Afterimage
by Skettimon
Summary: The first thing she noticed about him was his hair, in fact. It was long, stringy and greasy looking. The second thing she noticed was that he wasn't really there-he was sort of see through. A ghost. Rated M for later chapters and rated M for a reason! NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Afterimage

A/N: This came to me when I watched Deathly Hallows pt 2 for like the sixth time a couple days ago. I just thought this would be a great story. I will most likely write more for this. It may become a series of it's own. This will also most likely be a lot darker.

Lily Luna Potter met the ghost in her second year. She was hiding inside the boathouse to be precise near the docks simultaneously trying to study and keep watch for her eldest brother James, who had been tormenting her all day.

She was trying to master the Impervius spell, and what better place to do it than in this peaceful house near the water's edge?

As she studied the correct pronunciation once more and lifted her wand into the air, a sudden swishing noise and shadow in the corner of the room startled her, causing her to drop her wand. She managed to grab it before it fell between the floorboards and disappeared, but she was startled nonetheless.

Lily scrambled back as the dark figure approached her swiftly. Her heart was pounding, and her eyes wide with fear.

In a split second decision, Lily raised her wand and shouted "Lumos!"

Her wand exploded with bright blue light and lit up the person standing in front of her. She saw his eyes widen, hard mouth opening in a gasp. The man took a step back, glaring at her from beneath his long black hair.

The first thing she noticed about him was his hair, in fact. It was long, stringy and greasy looking. The second thing she noticed was that he wasn't really there - he was sort of transparent. A ghost.

Finally, what disturbed her the most is that he seemed to be bleeding from his neck.

"H-hullo," she said in a feeble voice, lowering her wand just a bit. The ghost just stood there, chest heaving as if he had just ran a mile. He looked angry, infuriated even. It occurred to her suddenly then that she had just cast a 3rd year spell.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed angrily, lowering his arm in a sharp movement, stalking towards her.

"I-I was just studying! I swear! I didn't know there was anyone else here...I'm sorry!" she cried out as she stared up at him. He looked down his crooked nose at her, eyes darting about her face. It seemed as if his face had gone even paler.

"You-! Your eyes...who are you?" he demanded loudly. Lily just stared up at him helplessly, tears starting to come to her eyes.

"My...my name is Lily...Lily Potter..." she replied quietly. She was scared out of her wits.

The ghost took another step back, eyes wide.

"Lily?" he asked just as quietly. She nodded slowly, watching as he ran a hand through his hair, turned around and stared off into the distance.

"Lily," he repeated, his voice slightly hoarse. They remained in their positions for quite some time - Lily crouched in the corner, her wand still lit yet forgotten. The book she had borrowed from the library was at her feet, laying open to some random page.

Finally, she reached for the book and went through it until she found the spell she needed to extinguish the light coming from her wand.

"Nox," she said quietly. The ghost remained where he was as Lily shut the book quietly before standing up.

"Sir?" she asked, and the man looked at her over his shoulder.

"Sir...may I...may I ask what your name is?"

The ghost continued to stand there silently before answering in a low voice.

"Severus. Severus Snape."


	2. Chapter 2

Standard Disclaimer

* * *

Lily didn't tell anyone what had happened at the docks. She kept her mouth shut.

Yet she thought about what had happened and the man she had met. The way he had sounded when he had revealed his name. The way he reacted when she had mentioned hers had confused her to no end since the sudden departure of his form in the dock house.

It sat in her mind's eye, pestering her like a small child would the family pet. She thought of going down there and speaking to him again, but was ultimately worried that he wouldn't show up. That she had frightened him away - he had certainly looked frightened when she had spoken her name.

As much as it was amazing, a part of her did feel guilty about not sharing the ghost's presence with her brother, Albus. For he did have the ghost's name as a middle.

But the other (much larger) part of her decided it was best if she spoke to Mister Snape first and maybe got him talking. She knew so little of the war her family had fought in. She had some vague information, yes, and she also knew that when her name had been called during the sorting ceremony, which felt like thousands of years ago, the room had quieted.

They already had two Potters in their midst at that point, but the name Potter never ceased to silence a room.

And so she went down to the lakeside after dinner. It was already getting quite dark, but she had practised and worked at her Lumos spell during the past two nights when she could think of nothing else but that mysterious man. Or the ghost of that man, rather.

It was hard not to think of him as physically there. He had seemed more like flesh and blood than anyone she had met thus far.

Lily Potter was not, to say the least, a popular girl. There was only so many things a famous name could do for a child. It was not as if she hadn't had children her age try and befriend her. It was just that she herself didn't feel like being used for another's popularity.

Her brothers may have seemed to revel in the fact that they were indeed of Potter blood, but Lily was more of a private and reserved person. She always had been.

She came upon the docks rather suddenly or so it seemed. The cold breeze off the water's edge seemed to blow right through her and she entered the wooden shed-like apparatus quietly - as if Severus was already there, asleep or resting and she didn't want to disturb him.

But when she finally creeped in, there was no one or no thing there. The water outside was still, reflecting the little light there was coming from her wand. She looked around, suddenly anxious.

She hadn't scared him off for good, had she?

"H-hello?" she cried out expectantly. The water lapped at the dock beneath her-her voice probably scared some fish that had finally settled in for the night.

"Hello," she tried again, quieter. Once again there was no response.

"Mister Severus?"

She waited.

"Mister Severus Snape, sir! It's Lily, Lily Potter!"

"That's Professor Severus Snape, Potter."

Lily spun around so fast the light emanating from her wand whipped across her vision like lightning. The effect left her blinking the afterimage out of her eyes, trying to look past the burnt sienna image to see the man - the ghost - in front of her.

"What are you doing here? It's late. Students aren't to be out of bed after hours," he asked, sounding impossibly tired (she wondered whether ghosts ever got tired). His voice was like cold acid all the same, however.

Lily shook her head quickly.

"It's not late. It's just after dinner. I came down here because...erm...well.."

It suddenly occurred to her that she didn't have a valid reason for coming down. Well, she had a valid reason for venturing down here, but not exactly one she would expect him to agree with.

She bit her lip and took a couple steps closer to the man. He was indeed bleeding from the side of his neck. An awfully gruesome sight to stare at, she realized, and turned her gaze upwards to look iinto his eyes instead.

"I just wanted to talk, that's all," she finally heard herself say. The man seemed neither interested nor disinterested and she didn't know whether that confused her more or his intense stare aimed at her.

"You have-" he started and then closed his own eyes before looking away and bringing one hand up to finger the bloody wound at his neck. Lily just stared in confused fascination.

"Does that hurt?" she asked, pointing rather rudely at the gash near his throat.

Severus's eyes snapped open, and he covered the wound with his whole hand, his lip curling up into a snarl. Yet when he spoke his voice was quiet, gentle almost.

"It used to. It did. Especially when it happened. Now answer my question, Potter."

Lily swallowed and shrugged.

"I already did answer your question. I just want to talk. My brother was named after you, you know. It's not everyday I'm going to meet someone Al was named after since both of the wizards are dead. No offense sir," she added at the end not wanting to make him disappear in a fit of anger just because she said something thoughtless.

Severus's eyes seemed to widen a bit.

"And what is your brother's name?" he asked, looking upon the girl as she sat down on the docks edge. She managed to wedge her wand in between two of the boards she was sitting next to, so her wand became a sort of lamp.

Lily smiled and proceeded to take off her socks and shoes before dipping her feet into the lake water. It was cold, but she didn't mind.

"Albus Severus Potter," she responded. Snape's eyes closed slowly, a small and slightly ironic smirk playing across his face. Then it all disappeared as he frowned.

"So I'm guessing the Dark Lord didn't prevail? Potter somehow managed to escape death after all." It was more a statement than anything else, and Lily recognized it as such.

"Actually, mum says dad _did_ die. But he used some kind of stone. And the stone brought him back again. I'm not really sure, to be honest. Mum didn't actually tell me that, I just happened to be passing by when she was telling my brother James."

"James?" he snorted, and Lily couldn't understand why the name was so funny.

"Yes," she responded slowly, before splashing her feet in the water.

After some time, Lily decided it was time for her to go. It wouldn't do to caught out by Filch, or that filthy half dead cat of his, and she told Severus so.

This time his lip did curl up in disdain and when he spoke it was filled with that very same tone.

"Filch is still around? How...delightful."

Lily gave a tiny giggle before pulling her socks and shoes back on.

"Can you travel around the school?" she asked before wrenching her wand out of the boards.

Severus stared as she struggled.

"Yes," he replied after some time.

Lily seemed to brighten a bit at that, or maybe it was just the light from her wand causing an illusion.

"You should come see me sometime. It would be only fair, since I came to see you," she said in a hopeful voice.

Severus narrowed his eyes. His hand had finally dropped down from his neck, and silver blood seemed to be stained on his hand. It was also trickling slowly down his gray-black robes. Lily tried her best to ignore it.

"You came down here without invitation. But perhaps. We shall see, now leave before I take points off for being out of bed."

Lily smiled once more and left the docks with a quick goodbye.

Severus's ghost watched her leave, an odd feeling reminiscent of remorse pulling at his long dead heart.

* * *

Several days later, Lily came back to the docks. She called upon him, and surprisingly enough the ghost came.

"What is it like being dead?" she asked almost immediately.

"I can tell that you are related to Potter," Severus snapped at her. "You're innappropriately rude and thoughtless. Just like your father."

Lily wilted a bit and stared at the water sadly suddenly feeling very regretful of her words. He was right - she had spoken before thinking, again. She had always been like that.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. Severus ignored her in favor of studying his fingernails.

"So when are you going to come and see me?" she asked after several minutes. She was now sitting at his feet. He looked down his nose at her.

"I won't be," he responded.

* * *

Throughout the year, Lily would go down to the docks and visit Severus. She became even more distant than ever before from her peers. But no one seemed to notice, not even members of her family.

Albus was engrossed with discovering girls and James was engrossed in discovering what girls had to offer. Her cousin Rose was currently involved in trying to out study and beat her rival Scorpius Malfoy who just so happened to be Albus's best friend.

None of her older cousins even bothered with her. Dom stuck close to mostly Rose, and Victoire and Teddy were nearing the end of their schooling. They were adults almost. Lily was pretty sure she had never said anything more than maybe five words to Victoire, let alone Teddy.

Lily desperately wanted to tell Albus about his namesake's ghost. But she worried that maybe she would be forbidden to go down there if her father found out.

Albus was named after Severus Snape, but her father had also several times told her how utterly revolting he had been as a professor. He had hated her father for a reason that he didn't find out until after the man's death.

What the reason was he had never divulged. Lily had thought about asking her new friend, but had never got the nerve to do so.

It seemed like one of those inappropriate and thoughtless types of things to ask and so she kept it to herself, for the time being anyway.

* * *

The school year rounded itself out soon enough, and Lily found herself panicking a bit.

What would he do without her to come visit? Would he miss her? Would she miss him? Yes, of course she would. He had been the closest thing to a friend she had all year. However, that scared her because it got her worrying...would he be here when she returned next year?

To keep herself from crying, she traveled down to the docks, if only to say goodbye she told herself.

Yet when she arrived and called out to him, he didn't show. She stayed there for several hours, waiting patiently.

But he never came.

"I hope you're here when I come back," Lily said sadly to the shed.

With that she returned home and busied herself with studying all summer so she wouldn't think about him.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

Summer seemed to fly by faster than Lily expected. She did indeed succumb to the beautiful windswept days of summer with her family and it made time speed up. They were on picnics almost every day and then played tame games of Quidditch in the afternoons.

In the evenings she would study her new books for school. No one would disturb her if she told them that that's what she was doing, regardless of whether or not she was actually doing it.

Then it was July. They celebrated her father's birthday with cake and presents and a party where all of the adults (and some of the younger teens who were sneaky enough) got drunk off their asses.

Lily did not take part in the festivities, but she found no one really noticed. She herself didn't notice them that much, she was far too preoccupied with thinking about school. More importantly, about him.

About Severus.

* * *

A part of her realized that she harbored some kind of unhealthy fascination with the long dead potions master of her father's time. But she stifled that part of her as much as possible and ignored the warning bells it seemed to ring at her.

August came and went, and soon enough it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Lily was excited, that was for sure. Yet what everyone mistook as excitement for merely returning to long missed friends and adventures in school was really something else.

For she would finally lay eyes upon _him_ again.

And really, that's all she had been looking forward to the whole summer.

* * *

But when she got back to school she found that new classes took up a lot of her time. She not only had double Transfigurations, but double Astronomy on Mondays.

Tuesdays she had double Potions, along with Care of Magical Creatures and DaDa classes. Astronomy again in the evenings.

Wednesdays she had Herbology right after breakfast, then Divination (useful to get a quick nap or two in). She usually had a free period after lunch, but she ended up spending most of that catching up on her Transfigurations assignments from the previous Monday.

Thursdays were probably her least busy day of the week. Two free periods - one right after breakfast and another right after lunch. But between that she had DaDa, and Potions. Free period after lunch and then Divination and Care of Magical Creatures again.

Fridays were hectic, as she usually couldn't concentrate because all her classmates would get in a frenzy over the Quidditch games that were to be held on those afternoons. Classes were even sometimes cut short for that reason alone.

The weekends for her should've been filled with relaxation, but with all the homework her professors gave on Friday Lily was lucky she even had time to sleep.

And so it wasn't until the fifth week into the school year that Lily was able to venture down to the docks.

* * *

When she came upon the shed, a sudden chill went up her spine. Her heart seized in her chest, and it felt like someone was literally taking her stomach and the contents inside and twisting them about.

She should not be this nervous.

Entering took what felt like a lifetime, mostly because she was so anxious. She was also still miffed and even a bit upset that Severus hadn't seen her off last year. He had a lot of explaining to do especially since it wasn't like he had been busy or anything. He was dead after all - what could the dead do? What DID the dead do in their free time?

It was a question Lily decided she would not impose on him.

She lit her wand quietly and quickly and ventured forward.

She thought about calling out to him, to Severus, but instead opted to dip her feet into the water. If he wanted to come, let him come, she thought to herself.

After all, he hadn't come when she had called him last time.

She was just getting ready to put her feet into the water when the corner to her left darkened considerably. She ignored him though in favor of watching her feet soak in the cool water.

She lifted them out from time to time to let the warm breeze cool her soles even more than they already were in the cold water - no matter how hot the grounds got, it seemed like the lake never became anything but more chilly.

Finally, tiring of this little game they were playing (for that's what it was, she decided) she acknowledged his presence.

"Why didn't you come to see me off last year?" she asked, tone hard. Cold.

She looked into the eyes-or rather, _through - _the eyes of the once living headmaster.

He didn't return her gaze. Instead he was holding his hand to his throat. Forever bleeding, she thought.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he could say nothing.

"I asked you a question," Lily said. She already felt like she was going to lose her cool and let all her feelings show.

"None of your business," he finally snapped, sending a weak glare her way. Lily rolled her eyes and fixed him with a look that clearly said she wasn't stupid.

"I wanted to say goodbye," she replied. Her tone was no longer hard or cold, but one of sadness. Severus lowered his eyes, a slightly pained expression crossing his face.

"If you didn't want to see me and I was that annoying, you could've just told me, you know. I know when to take the hint."

She looked up at the man who refused to meet her eyes.

After some silence, she pulled her shoes back on and got up.

"I should go. I have a test in the morning," she lied.

Severus said nothing, but the way he slowly dissipated in front of her said volumes.

Maybe it was wishful thinking but she could swear she heard an _I'm Sorry _whispered upon the winds as she trudged back up the hill and towards the castle.

* * *

Lily tried not to think of him as she went through the motions of school for the next month. She didn't go down to visit. She didn't go near the docks.

She stayed inside and busied herself with schoolwork.

On Christmas Eve, she received a visitor in the Slytherin common room.

* * *

"I would have never expected a Potter to be sorted into Slytherin," he said as she watched him float into her view.

It was late at night and everyone else had tired themselves out with the excitement and planning for the festivities to come the following day.

Lily cracked a smile at that.

"Yeah well, Dad said the same thing when Albus was sorted here. I'm sure he didn't expect me to follow suit," she replied, making space on the couch. And then she remembered he couldn't exactly sit down next to her.

She covered the motion up by lifting her legs upon the couch instead.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked him. Severus narrowed his eyes.

"You told me to come visit you once," he stated, hand absentmindedly running through his greasy looking hair before settling on the old wound at his neck. Lily watched as his fingers traced the edge of his collar.

Such long fingers for a man, she thought.

"So here I am. Happy Christmas, Potter," he finished. Lily shook her head.

"It's Christmas Eve. But thanks anyway."

* * *

New Years came soon enough and Lily went down to the docks. In a daring move, she kissed Severus on the cheek.

It had felt like kissing cold marble.

* * *

Third Year rounded itself out rather nicely, Lily thought. Next year she would be fourteen, and in Fourth Year.

And this time when she went down to the docks he was waiting there. Lying against the wall, hand over his neck. Lily had sat down next to him, smiled and put her hand in the place where his would've been.

"I'll miss you," she said.

"You'll be here next year," was his reply.

"Yes, I will. But I didn't say I would miss Hogwarts. I said I would miss you."

He hadn't replied, only stared at the place where her hand would have covered his.

"Go home," he finally said, voice oddly hoarse. Lily cocked her head, before trying to hug him.

Hugging a ghost was hard, but for a moment he felt warm and hard against her small frame.

"Go home," he said again, his voice weaker. She felt the cool of his arms wrapping around her.

"Go home," he said for the last time and disappeared.

She was left staring at the space where his eyes would have been and wondering whether he will miss her this summer like she had missed him last year.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

Standard Disclaimer

* * *

Summer for Lily this time around seemed to move very slow. The family took less picnics this year and instead more visitations to and from family members. A cool mid-afternoon lunch here with Rose's parents, a nice summer dinner at Nana Molly's there.

Lily once again skived off of most of her family gatherings under the guise of studying, feigning tiredness, or sometimes just telling the truth. She didn't want to go to every single one of the silly reunions her large family held every single summer.

As if she didn't see enough of her cousins during the school year.

She did get away with it the majority of the time though, mostly because Al and James's grades were nowhere near hers in terms of perfection. Her OWL's were coming up in her Fifth Year, and Aunt Hermione had offered to help her start studying.

She had denied the help and her aunt had seemed crestfallen yet proud that her niece needed no such thing as help in her schoolwork.

The truth is, Lily simply believed that starting to study for her OWL's during the summer before her Fourth Year even began was completely and utterly ridiculous.

No wonder Rose had such a competitive streak when it came to doing well in her own year.

* * *

This was the summer that Lily discovered boys, really truly discovered boys. They weren't much to look at, she noticed. Either they had acne and the sparse beginnings of a beard, or their voice was squeaky when pronouncing every other word.

Her discovery of the opposite sex was short lived as she found she wanted nothing to do with boys. They were rough, rowdy, and loud. Most importantly, they didn't seem to care about anyone but themselves.

She turned fourteen a month after school ended and so to her great discomfort her mother had "The Talk" with her. The talk consisted of her mother telling her about how girls work, how boys worked and basically how protection worked. Her mother, despite the red tint of embarrassment upon her cheeks, performed the spell against getting pregnant. She even had Lily practice the spell several times before finally sending her on her way.

Lily didn't think she would need the spell any time soon.

The end of August slugged past making it probably the most humid and hottest August Lily had ever experienced. Even just sitting in her room with a muggle fan on full blast near her face hadn't kept her cool. She had welcomed the first of September, not only because she would be heading back to school, but because it would be cooler there.

Also, because Severus would be there.

* * *

Classes for Lily this year were much more laid back. She found she would have plenty of time to do whatever it was she liked to do in her free time.

Mondays held Potions, Charms, Herbology. Free period after lunch and then one more class for the evening -Care of Magical Creatures.

Tuesdays held DaDa, Divination, Muggle Studies, Charms and Astronomy.

Wednesdays were nice, she thought. Potions in the morning again, Divination right before lunch, Transfigurations and then two whole free periods.

Thursdays were not as nice. Double Herbology, Muggle Studies, DaDa and evening Astronomy classes right after dinner.

Fridays were jam packed. Double Potions, double DaDa, Divination and then lunch. History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures after lunch. Then dinner and another evening Astronomy class.

Thankfully, the professors didn't give nearly as much homework as they had last year. Must've been all those doubles, she thought to herself - anyone in double classes would have enough time to learn and start on and perhaps even finish their homework before leaving the classroom.

Lily did find that she enjoyed this year's classes much more than last year. However, she still hadn't quite gotten around to going down to the docks to visit Severus.

Finally, an opportunity presented itself on a Wednesday.

Two whole free periods and she had just gotten done with her essay about the importance of taking tea leaves seriously. Or something along that nature. She had bullshitted her way through it in all honesty, but bullshit was just about the word she would use to describe the subject itself anyway.

So she packed up her books and bits of parchment as well as her ink quills and made her way to the docks.

* * *

Severus was there when she entered.

"I didn't realize the vermin had come back already," he said. Lily grimaced before settling down on the wooden boards of the dock.

"You're here early," he added, drifting towards her. Lily nodded and replied, "My classes are a lot less of a mess this year. I think I'm going to drop Herbology at some point. Professor Ignus is a total prat."

Severus lifted an eyebrow in a way that Lily had come to know as his amused look.

"You do realize that is a professor you're speaking about?" he asked in a haughty tone.

"Help me with my potions essay please," she said instead of trying to come up with a decent answer.

* * *

She was asked to Hogsmeade by her family members the following weekend. Rose nearly begged her to come, and Lily agreed reluctantly. She had really hoped to go down to see Severus, but when Rose asked her what else she could possibly have been busy with, she couldn't think of a good enough excuse for her cousin and had to leave it at that.

So on the day Rose accompanied Lily down the slopes towards the town of Hogsmeade. The attention her cousin was giving her was so excessive, it could almost be called smothering.

Once there, her cousins immediately took off for the Three Broomsticks and Lily was practically being dragged inside. She somehow managed to get out of the whole gathering part at the last minute, saying she wanted to visit and view the Shrieking Shack.

"I'll meet up with you all later," she said, and somewhat roughly wrenched her arm out of Rose's grasp, who huffed angrily at her behavior and stalked away.

Lily hurried off towards the Shrieking Shack, only too happy to be away from her annoying and meddling cousins. It seemed like recently every time she had tried to go down to visit Severus, one of her family members somehow found her and dragged her off to some mundane or boring task.

As if they knew her. And more importantly as if they knew where and what she had been doing these past three years.

Glancing over her shoulder, she hurried her way past the wooden fence and towards the building that wasn't truly a shack. It was more a mansion. It should've been called the Shrieking Mansion, she thought to herself.

She trudged up the hill towards the grand old house and made her way to the front door. For a place that was seemingly haunted, not to mention condemned, the door was neither locked nor were there any signs warning people off.

Of course Lily already knew that the place wasn't haunted - she had heard from her father the reason why so many had thought it had been. His friend Remus had been a werewolf and had taken up residence there during his transitions every full moon.

She entered the building without fear, lighting her wand as she entered. As she shut the door quietly Lily sighed in content as the peaceful silence met her. Such calming and relaxing quiet.

It was very soothing.

Since she was already in the building, she decided to explore in hope of finding something interesting. And so she brought her wand up and started off down the hallway and, after deciding that nothing on the ground floor looked interesting, made her way up the stairs.

She entered the only room that had light coming from it, which she assumed could only be from a window overlooking Hogsmeade. The light was coming from the door at the end of the hall way, the only door that was open.

And so Lily, now in a slightly anxious manner, made her way down the hall. And when she entered the room, she was shocked to see none other than Severus Snape lying against the windowed wall, hand against his wound.

He looked more in pain than she had ever seen him, but he also looked more real and physically there than she had ever seen him be, and for a moment she felt like running to him to check if he was okay.

But then she remembered that he was a ghost and that there was no helping him, he was already dead.

Severus sniffed loudly, and gave a low groan of pain. The noise pulled at Lily's heart making her truly wish that somehow she could stand between him and the horrible pain and take it away. She suddenly felt like she was intruding on something, something she wasn't meant to see, and went to take a step back.

The floorboards beneath her creaked loudly though and caused Severus's head to snap over in her direction and Lily to freeze. She was sure she looked like a deer in the headlights, or so to speak. After all, it was a muggle saying her mother used that she had never truly understood.

Why the floorboards didn't creak when she was coming up the stairs, or when she was walking down the hallway, she didn't know.

"What-" Severus whispered, eyes blazing in a mixture of cold anger, fear and maybe a bit of embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just trying to get away from Rose and-"

"Get out," he said coldly. His hands were clenched into tight fists.

"But, Sev-"

"Get. Out."

"Please, Severus, don't make me le-"

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE HERE!" he shouted, his voice booming across the empty space between them and making Lily's eyes widen in fear. She had never heard him raise his voice least of all expect it to be like this and at her.

"But why-?" she asked desperately, taking a step towards him.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE POTTER!" he screamed, his hair going wild about his face. He made to stand, but couldn't quite seem to do so for some reason.

Lily instead rushed to his side quickly. He gasped in pain and anger, glaring at her.

"What the bloody fuck, Potter?!" he said loudly, voice tinged with desperation. She ignored the fact that he had just cursed in front of a student - he wasn't really a professor anymore anyway.

"Why are you here?" she asked, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She wasn't quite sure why she was so upset to see him sitting there in such pain, hand over his wound which seemed to be bleeding more profusely than ever.

"Why are you _still_ here?" he spat, gritting his teeth in pain. Lily put a hand on his shoulder and gasped when her hand didn't go through him!

"I'm... I'm able to touch you" she said in a shocked voice.

"Good for you! Now if you wouldn't mind bloody well leaving?" he barked out, grabbing her wrist and flinging it off his shoulder.

"But...but why are you here?" she choked out. She had never truly been able to touch him, and now that she could she found herself not wanting to leave. She wanted to hug him, hold him close.

Stop the bleeding at the very least.

So she ripped off her thin scarf and tried to tie it around the wound, but Snape would have none of it. Lily then finally gave up and started crying instead.

"Don't cry for me, Potter," he snapped, but instead of pushing her away he grabbed her and pulled her at lightning speed into a rough hug.

Lily did not heed his advice - she had never really listened to anyone but her own heart and mind. And so instead of stopping, she cried into his chest like the child she still was at heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Standard Disclaimer

* * *

Lily didn't go down to visit Severus Snape for a whole month. She told herself it was because she was busy - Christmas was coming up, there were gifts to buy, cards to write, classes to study for and those kinds of things.

But she knew the truth, the real reason she hadn't been to see him.

She was only fourteen and had never had a real boyfriend. Never known the touch of the opposite sex, friendly or particularly sexual in nature. Other than from and for her family, she had never known love.

But she did know this.

If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up falling in love with a ghost. A dead man.

"There's definitely something wrong with me," she muttered to herself one night as she stared up at the blackness of her canopied bed.

Sleep didn't come easy that night.

* * *

Lily didn't really know what to get everyone for Christmas and so decided to just each give her family members (aside from Victoire and Teddy, both of whom had always given her crappy presents) bags of money. They could pick out their own gifts that way.

The days leading up to Christmas Eve, it snowed heavily like it only could at Hogwarts. The Slytherin common room became colder than it normally was, and even the most hard core Slytherins could barely handle it.

Her family wanted her to come down for Christmas, but with the snow the trains weren't able to leave. Some students managed to floo out of Hogwarts, but most others had to stay at school for the holidays.

Since the Slytherin common room was so cold most of the Slytherins decided they would rather be warm than patriotic and freezing, and set up a commons using the Room of Requirement. Headmistress McGonagall approved the idea and so the Slytherin common room was mostly devoid of other students.

Lily reveled in the quiet that came with so very few people in the common room and didn't mind staying behind despite the cold.

Christmas break was blissfully silent and she got most of her work done during the first few days of the break. She briefly entertained the idea of going out to see Severus but then took one look outside and decided against it.

She often secretly half wished he would come and visit her instead even though she was sure he never would.

Life is funny though, and you have to be careful what you wish for. Her mother had once told her that.

One evening, Lily had fallen asleep on the common room couch, fire low and the blanket from her own bed covered atop her. Suddenly she was awake, yet wasn't quite sure what it was that had awoken her - instead she just remembered awakening slowly. Her eyes didn't open at first as she was still trying to stay asleep.

After what felt like five minutes of that, she finally opened her eyes.

Severus was standing before her.

"Hey," she mumbled sleepily, running a hand through his ghostly form. Severus's eyes tracked her gesture.

"Potter," he replied in acknowledgement, before clearing his throat.

"What're you doin' here?' she asked, blinking the sleepiness from her eyes.

"I'm allowed to visit this place. I was head of house here once if you must know."

Lily yawned and stretched lazily. Her knees cracked loud and in quite a painful manner at that.

"What time is it?" she murmured, reaching for her wand.

She grabbed it off the floor in front of her and cast a spell to reignite the fire. It lit up and Lily dropped her wand back on ground satisfied with her work.

"It's almost morning."

Lily yawned again, and closed her eyes. She scooted back as far as she could on the couch and patted the space in front of her.

Snape's eyebrows creased together as he studied the young teen in front of him.

"Do you mean me to sit down?" he asked slowly. Lily didn't say anything back, only nodded. Severus just stared at her in a questioning manner.

"You do realize I'm a ghost?"

Lily nodded, already half asleep again. Severus huffed in a mix of exasperation and annoyance and tried his best to settle himself down next to her.

Lily curled an arm around his non-existent hips, the tips of her fingers dipping into his form. It felt like she had dipped her fingers in ice water.

"You're cold," she mumbled. Severus shut his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm dead Potter - of course I'm cold," he said through gritted teeth. Was she really that daft?

"Oh yeah," Lily whispered, and tried to snuggle closer.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Severus muttered, but didn't leave. He stayed next to her until he heard noise coming from the First Year dorms. At that point he stood, turned around and stared down at the redheaded child that looked so much like his first love.

"Happy Christmas Lily," he muttered addressing her by her first name. He tried to smooth her hair out, but his hand went right through her.

Nostrils flaring with frustration, he disappeared.

* * *

New Years. In the days between Christmas and New Years, the snow had melted enough for students to go outside, and in the spirit of the cold winter Lily participated in a snow ball fight with her cousins. She was happy she came outside as it was possibly the most fun she had managed to have in a long time.

It was Slytherins versus Gryffindors. Lily was hunkered down with Scorpius, Albus, and Lysander, along with a couple Third Years in Slytherin. She wasn't entirely sure, but thought they said their names were Justina Patil Finch-Fletchly and Georgia Young.

Rose, James, Hugo and Louis and two other Gryffindors that Lily didn't recognize were hiding behind their own little wall of snow. Scorpius was busy making snowballs with Justina, Albus was stacking more snow on top of their wall.

"So where have ya been, sis?" Albus asked breathlessly, ducking his head a bit as a snowball went flying just missing the top of his head.

"What do you mean?" Lily grunted as she hurled a snowball that Georgia put into her hand. It went whistling past James's right ear, who ducked back down immediately. Lily smirked and dropped back down to her knees.

"I mean," Albus said, peeking back over the edge of their snow wall.

"Where have you been? It feels like I never see you anymore." Albus didn't look at her, just piled more snow on their wall. Scorpius pushed about twenty snowballs towards them and started working on the next pile.

"I've been...busy. Schoolwork and all that. You know how it is," she replied offhandedly, grabbing a snowball and peeking over the edge of their wall.

Albus chuckled, shaking his head.

"Don't give me that," he said, rolling his eyes. Scorpius pushed the next stack of snowballs their way.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Lily lied, hurling two snowballs in a row across the field. One of them hit James straight in the face, who yelped. Lily grinned and sat back down.

Albus stared at her cooly.

"Lily," he sighed, closing his eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips. Then he looked over at her and gave her a small, yet unsettling smile.

"I know where you go, Lils."

Lily slowed her movements of rolling up a snowball - Scorpius and her had changed positions.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking up, her voice a little higher than normal. Albus motioned to Lysander, who took his place. Her brother moved next to her, eyeing his little sister.

"I have the Marauders Map, y'know. I'm not stupid, I know you're up to something - I just don't know what. All I ever see you do is...isolate...yourself. From us - your own family. And why Lily? What's so great about the docks? You've been doing this for what... two years now?"

Lily's eyes widened and she flung a snowball down on the ground in front of her in anger.

"What?! You've been _spying_ on me? For _two_ years?" she hissed vehemently. Albus looked slightly taken aback before glaring at her.

"You're my _sister_, Lily! What the fuck do you expect me to do? Just sit around and watch you traipse around the school alone? Watch calmly as you isolate yourself, like you're above us all?"

Lily shook her head angrily, rolled another snowball and nearly took Lysander's arm off whilst handing it to him.

"I kinda expect you not to use that type of language around _Third_ Years. What would Mum say?"

"To hell with Mum! And don't tell her I said that. But honestly Lily? Why don't you ever hang out with the rest of us? Ever since you came here and started going to those docks you haven't tried to go places with us, or hang out, or even talk with us. Merlin, you disappeared on Rose once to visit the _Shrieking Shack_, of all places."

Albus was now looking at her expectantly, but she didn't know what to say. How to be honest with him and tell him what's going on.

Finally:

"The hell with you, Albus!" she spat. Scorpius frowned and glanced over at them before returning to throwing snowballs.

"You never once came to find me. You never once asked me where I was or how I was, until today. Like my well being is really that important to you?"

"What the fuck, Lily?" Albus sputtered, but Lily cut him off before he could say anything else.

"No! Fuck _you_! If you were so worried about me, where were you when I started school? I had no friends, no one to lean on, and to this day I still have no friends! If I'm so important, where were you last year? The year before? I'll tell you where you were!"

She stood up, drawing her wand. Albus's eyes widened and he reached for his own. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James suddenly scramble up and start towards them.

However, Scorpius pelted him with snowballs causing him to back up a couple steps.

"Bugger off, Malfoy!" James shouted, crouching back down.

Lily gave a short nod at Scorpius in thanks. He shrugged and started rolling more snowballs for himself.

Lily turned back to her brother, wand pointed at him. Her voice was quiet.

"You never truly cared, Al. You were chasing that hussy Scarlet. All these school years, you've been chasing that _slut_! And the whole time you were chasing her, I was alone. And if you feel any type of regret, or any type of...guilt. Well you can just save it! It's a little too late to be concerned!"

"Lily," Albus said slowly, staring at her wand, which was starting to give off an acrid smelling blue smoke.

"Careful with that thing, now..."

Lily's eyes blazed and her lip curled up in a sneer before she pointed her wand down at his feet and cast a Jelly Legs Jinx.

"Get out of that, you prat! I'm done!" She yelled before stalking off down towards the boathouse. Albus was calling her name, trying to get her to come back.

But she had nothing to say to him. He was an asshole anyways.

* * *

Lily sat in the cold boathouse all by herself for a couple hours. She finally cast a warming charm around the area and settled against the wall, seething.

How dare he? How dare he spy on her, like she was some kind of naive First Year? He had no right to just barge into her personal life like that!

"Potter?"

Lily looked up, her mouth still hard and her hands clenched. Snape stood before her with that usual stoic look upon his face.

"Hey," she muttered, and returned her gaze back to the wood between her thighs. She really didn't want company, but now that he was here, she didn't want him to leave.

Severus said nothing, yet he didn't leave. They sat in a slightly companionable silence for several minutes before Lily sighed.

"Now what?" Severus asked in a bored tone. Lily glared up at him. Severus returned the look.

"My fucking brother. Albus. He's suspicious about why I come down here 'by myself'." She brought up both her gloved hands and curled her first and second fingers in quotation marks when she said the last part.

Severus lifted one eyebrow up at her and Lily bit her bottom lip - she was so angry.

"So you never told him."

Lily shook her head. No, she had never told him.

"I had...I had always _planned_ on telling him, you know. That you were here. I was so sure he would have wanted to meet you. But when second year ended, and you hadn't shown up to say goodbye... and I thought that maybe, you know. Maybe. Maybe I wasn't good enough. That you didn't want me around, that it was too early to bring someone else to meet you."

Severus pursed his lips and Lily noticed the slightest twitch in his fingers.

"And then, last year. I was so _so_ mad at you. For not saying goodbye to me the year before. And than Al got all caught up in that Scarlet girl - total slut, that one. But I kept telling myself 'I'll tell him soon, I'll have him meet him soon'. But there was...there was just never a good time."

Lily sniffed. Her nose was watering. It was quite cold and the sun had set sometime ago. She cast another warming spell and lit her wand.

"And then...and then I saw you in the Shrieking Shack. And you were h-hurt. And it hurt me to see you hurt. And then I knew. I didn't really _want_ Albus to meet you. I never had. I had always wanted you to my - to myself." She sighed as she said the last part.

Severus took a sharp intake of breath, crossing his arms. Lily didn't notice this, for she was refusing to look at him. Her eyes were starting to water and she felt the ache in her chest again.

"It's not fair. In all the time I've been here, I've never had a friend. You were... hell, you _are _the only friend I've had since second year. You know what's funny?" she asked bitterly.

Severus remained silent, watching as she struggled not to cry. He decided to focus his gaze above her head.

"My mum," she barked out, voice thick with emotion.

"My mum...she sh-showed me the contraception spell! Ha! Like I'll ever have a boy ask me out to anything! Not that I would even take them up on it, you know. Because I don't know how to talk to...to boys. They're fucking messes anyways. And if they act any way Al does, well then I don't want anything to do with them. Urgh that bastard!"

Lily fell silent, and nothing was said between them. She wiped at her eyes and nose violently, chiding herself for acting this way.

Severus finally sat down next to her, taking up his customary position of leaning against the window.

"I'm. I'm...sorry," he said hoarsely, his cheeks twitching as he grit his teeth.

Lily laughed bitterly, sniffing and wiping at her eyes again. She turned to look at him.

"Sorry for what? Being my friend when no one else was, or is anyway?"

Severus closed his eyes. And she wasn't sure if he did it because he was feeling phantom pains from his wound again, or if he just couldn't bear to look at her.

"I should have done it. I should've pushed you away like my sane brain had told me to. I shouldn't have let you get attached to me. You would have... students your own age to talk to. You wouldn't have to come down here and-"

"No!" Lily burst out, silencing the ghost. Severus remained leaning there, breathing deeply with eyes closed.

"No," Lily repeated, voice quieter and calmer.

"Even if I hadn't met you. Even if you had never confronted me, I would still be like this. I never ever - not once - felt like I belonged with _any_ of those people in there. Never."

She leaned closer to Severus, who didn't seem to register her movements.

"But here. I've _always_ felt like I've belonged when I've been here with you. I never felt like I had to put on a show and pretend everything is okay, or act any differently around you than when I'm alone. You've... you've taken me for who I am, Severus. And...and that's why...why I..."

She didn't have it in her. That bravery to finish the sentence.

Snape opened his eyes widely as she trailed off. She was quite close, and he tried to pull back. A tic above his left eye was going mad.

"Don't," he said huskily. Lily looked away, her face hot. She knew what she had been about to say, and he was right. She shouldn't. It was ridiculous, anyhow. She was fourteen and he... he was dead.

Dead.

Lily bit her lip, fresh tears threatening to fall down to it.

"I've got to go," she whispered, standing up. Severus didn't say anything, just blinked hard and stared off into space in front of him.

"I'll see you around. Happy New Years," she muttered, face still warm with embarrassment and something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"G'night," she said and left the boathouse without bothering to wait for a response she wouldn't get right now.

Severus just stared after her. And he continued to lay there and stare at the space where she had been sitting for several hours afterwards.

She was right, he thought.

It wasn't fair.

* * *

New chapter beta'd by !


	6. Chapter 6

Lily ignored her family members more than ever after her blow up with Albus. She started hanging out more with Scorpius and Lysander, both of whom welcomed her but were also neutral parties in terms of her and Albus.

Scorpius most likely wished he could take Al's side. He had a weak spot for girls, though, and he had known Lily for a long time so ended up staying out of it.

Lysander was usually just there, ready to offer assistance as a study partner, or in rare cases as a chess partner.

Summer came upon them seemingly out of nowhere that year. Lily worked hard on her end of the year projects, Lysander helping to work out some details concerning her Astronomy construction.

Finally May came. There was the end of the year feast, and then an end of the year party in the Room of Requirement - one that Lily didn't participate in.

Instead, she traveled down to the boathouse to say goodbye to Severus.

And of course, he was waiting for her when she arrived.

They didn't say anything to each other, just sat in a companionable silence, Lily continously trying to touch his ghostly form. She would run her hands through his form, reveling in the cold that was his insides.

Severus would sigh every time, and Lily felt a mixture of sadness and glee. Sadness that she wouldn't be able to do this over the summer and glee at the fact that she could make him feel, if for a moment, some sort of human touch.

As she was leaving Lily sighed and pressed herself nearly inside of Severus in her attempt at being closer to him. In response Severus himself raised his hands and ran his fingers through her head, causing her to moan gently.

They stopped after that, and a slightly pink Lily said goodbye quietly. Severus only nodded, ran his hand down her side gently, and disappeared.

Lily was left with an odd feeling between her legs, but she ignored it and went to back to the castle to pack for home.

That night she dreamed of ghostly kisses and cold hands touching her.

* * *

The summer before her Fifth Year, Lily had started studying for her OWL's. Her aunt Hermione was beyond herself with excitement and offered to draw up time tables and studying schedules for her next school year. Lily took her up on the offer and aunt Hermione came back a week later with them all drawn up.

"Rose used these last year," she stated proudly.

"Got all O's, as you know!"

Lily nodded politely and thanked her aunt before hurrying upstairs to start on the first weeks studying.

She turned fifteen in June, and "became a woman" according to her mother. Her breasts literally seemed to come out of nowhere surprising her. She developed her curves slowly, and by the time school was due to start up again, she got her monthly.

It was all very overwhelming and at times left Lily feeling very confused.

* * *

That day on the train Lily sat in a carriage with her cousin Rose, who was mostly ignoring her. Rose was trying to finish up the Sixth Year Arithmancy book that had been on her school list.

Next to Rose was Scorpius, who was doing the same thing. They had gotten awfully close last year, Lily thought to herself.

Albus was across from Rose with that Scarlet slut. Scarlet _was_ pretty, she thought, but a slut was and will always be a slut in her book.

Scarlet was currently fluttering her blue eyes at Al like some helpless puppy. Lily watched as she flipped her shiny black hair over her shoulder perhaps ten times in a minute before rolling her eyes and looking away.

Lysander was burried in his own book, while Lorcan, sitting across from Lily, was staring out the window with a dazed look on his face. According to her aunt Hermione, he acted the same way Luna, Lorcan and Lysander's mother, had in her younger years.

Lily turned her attention back to the wilderness flying past the window. Right now, everything was still green and gold, but soon enough it would be dark and hard to see the beauty that was early fall.

Lily sighed, closed her eyes and fell asleep within minutes.

* * *

She dreamt of Severus Snape (again), once a Potions Master. In her dream, he was helping her with a potion she was making.

He was standing behind her, arms crossed and his face serious business-like. His eyes were focused on her right hand, which was stirring a potion in a figure eight motion.

The room they were in smelled musty and she couldn't fully tell if they were in a classroom or not. There just seemed to be an endless black void behind the two of them, with one table set in the middle of wherever they were.

The potion Lily was stirring was a myriad of colors. One moment it was sunset colored, the next the color of oysters. A pale pink would emerge, then a foul looking green color. Later a deep amethyst would morph into an endless black. Tiny bits of stars sparkled inside and Lily stopped stirring to stare.

"No!" Snape hissed, his large cool hand covering hers. He stepped closer towards her, robes brushing against her back. She felt the heat coming off of him in waves, making sweat bead up on her forehead and her hair to become plastered to her face.

"Keep stirring," he said quietly into her ear. His breath was cool, a blessed welcome from the heat from both the flame beneath the cauldron in front of her and the heat radiating off his body.

Lily shivered, and Severus stepped closer, front pressing hard into her back. She leaned back into him, her head against his chest, looking up into his eyes. He was looking back down upon her, eyes bright and blazing with life.

"Lily," he muttered, and she moaned at her name.

"I want you," she said brazenly, not even sure what she meant. Severus's eyes narrowed to near slits, pushing harder against her back. She could feel his chest rising and falling with each breath he took.

"You'll have me when I say you will," he replied strictly, continuing the stirring of the potion in front of them.

"Now," she whined.

"You're just a child," he hissed, leaning down and nuzzling her ear.

"Lily," he sighed, and she pushed her hips back into him. He pushed forward.

"How provocative of you, Potter," he said, and now the cauldron was gone. There was only the table in front of them, his hand still over hers. He pushed her forward so she lay flush against the table with his other hand and then ran it through her hair. His hips were rubbing in delicious circles.

"Severus," she whimpered, closing her eyes.

"Lily," he replied, other hand caressing her side gently.

"Lily," he said again, his voice slightly different.

"_**LILY**_!"

She started awake to see Albus crouched in front of her, giving her an odd look.

"Whaz goin on?" she mumbled sleepily, looking around. She was in the carriage with her family members, all of whom were pulling their robes over their muggle clothes.

"It's time to get ready," Albus said, still giving her that weird look. Lily shook her head quickly to wake herself up. After she had dressed, she thought back to the dream.

What was that? What the hell was going on with her?

* * *

She had many more dreams like that one on the train in the following weeks. Some were so embarrassing that the thought of them made her cheeks as pink as they could get. Others were tamer and less frightening to think about and analyze. She once had a dream in which they were sitting on the Hogwarts grounds, yet there seemed to be no one at the school.

Both of them were just sitting there, hand in hand, in front of the lake. It was a nice, if somewhat sad, dream.

Because she was so embarrassed of her dreams, she didn't go to visit Severus for several weeks after school started. She didn't think he would mind though as she had always waited a few weeks to pass before going to see him.

One Friday afternoon presented her with a wonderful opportunity, though. Her timetable recommended for her to start studying for her Potions portion of her OWL's around that time. So she gathered her timetable, grabbed the necessary equipment and traveled down to the boathouses.

Severus was there when she entered. He took one look at her collapsible cauldron, and raised his eyebrows.

"And what do you think you're doing, Potter?" he asked in his bored monotonous voice.

"My OWL's for Potions are coming up near the end of the school year. I wanna practice all the Potions they may make us brew beforehand. Practice makes perfect and all that," she replied, setting up the cauldron. She then took out the ingredients she would need and cast a spell that sent globes of light floating above the air.

"And what potion have you chosen for today, pray tell?"

Lily smirked and opened up the Fifth Year potions book that she had bought during the summer.

"Well, I thought I'd start with this one - the Strengthening Solution. Then I'll move onto the Draught of Peace. I know the Draught of Peace is an OWL standard potion that we have to make on the exam, but I want to steady my hand first when making other potions before moving onto that one."

Severus only nodded approvingly and watched as she lit a magical fire beneath her cauldron. She began reading the ingredients, and when she was done the cauldron was more than sufficiently hot. She lowered the temperature slightly and began to work.

"Tell me if I do something wrong?" she said in a questioning tone, not really paying attention or planning to wait for his answer. She knew he would have done this even if she hadn't asked.

And so she worked.

Severus didn't correct her once.

* * *

She worked hard all through the year on her studying. James made fun of her for it, but she knew that when the time came for his NEWT's, he wouldn't be ready for the test and may even seek her out for helping him study. And most likely he'd find her the day before his exams would even take place. Typical, she thought to herself..

After she had perfected the Strengthening Solution, she had set to work for making the Draught of Peace. When she tried to do this in the Slytherin common room, though, she found all her peers too distracting. So she moved her location to the potions classroom, which was still being run by Professor Slughorn.

When she asked his permission to practice, he happily agreed and wished her luck. Lily only smiled politely before focusing on setting her equipment back up.

She worked through dinner and didn't even notice when Slughorn went to go up to the Great Hall.

Just as she was getting ready to start timing her counterclockwise motions for three minutes, she felt a wind of cold air behind her.

She turned around in one breath, and there he was.

"Hullo," she said, returning back to her potion. Severus floated closer to her and looked over her shoulder. He hmmed in appreciation and watched as she timed her motions.

"Stop now," he ordered. Lily did so, noting that the potion turned a dreamy blue color. This was it - she had mastered it.

"If you had continued to stir, Potter, you would've turned this into a very dangerous acid. _Always_ be precise," he murmured and Lily felt her face heat up. She wasn't sure if it was the velvety sound of his voice rumbling or the fact that she had nearly destroyed part of the classroom.

"Sorry," she said quickly. You're distracting, is what she really wanted to say, but now was not the time nor the place so she kept her mouth shut.

Severus huffed and floated through the table until his back was in front of her. He then turned around, eyes dark and heavily lidded. His arms were crossed, and Lily felt like she was being suffocated.

He was taking up the same position he had in her dream on the Hogwarts Express, albeit he was in front of her and not behind her.

Severus cocked an eyebrow.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded. Lily stared back blankly and just shook her head slowly, not trusting herself enough to speak.

Everything. Nothing. You. You're what's wrong with me. I wish I could just-

She stopped that train of thought near immediately.

"N-nothing," she stuttered and began to ladle out her potion into a vial.

"You silly girl," he hissed and swung a hand through her form in annoyance.

"What now?" she asked, exasperated.

"You must wait for the potion to cool! Have they taught you nothing?!" he barked, giving up trying to grab her wrist. Being around the living, especially a live girl, messed with his head sometimes. He often forgot he was no longer alive and substantial.

"Oh," she mumbled, and began to pour the potion back into the cauldron. She caught herself at the last second and instead put the vial on the table.

She looked up to see Severus glaring at her.

"Who's teaching here these days? An utter fool, by the looks of it!"

Lily gave a tiny laugh and told him Professor Slughorn. Severus put a hand over his eyes.

"That madman couldn't brew a Pepper Up potion correctly," he snarled. Lily giggled again.

"You could always become like Professor Binns?" she prompted, but the look he gave her clearly said no.

Lily shrugged.

"Sorry," she said.

"This is all we have."

Severus just shook his head and stared at the potion. After a few seconds he pointed at her potion.

"Look here, Potter. See why you must wait? What is it doing right now?"

Lily looked and was surprised to see the once dreamy blue was now transforming into a royal purple.

"Most students who brew this potion fail it during their OWL's. All they want is to be done with it, and so they don't care. They're impatient, and don't wait for it fully cool. A Draught of Peace brewed incorrectly and not given enough time to cool can not only kill, but produce horrible disfigurements should somone survive a dose of bad draught."

"Ohhh," Lily said, and once again began to fill her vial up.

When she had a full vial, she banished the potion from the cauldron and began to repack her things.

"Thanks so much, Severus," she said when she was all packed.

"Hmph," was all he said. Lily just smiled sweetly and watched him disappear.

* * *

And so in her Fifth Year Lily passed her OWL's with all O's. She had studied through Christmas break, denying her family a chance to see her during the holidays. She had studied through New Years, only going down to see Severus once and informing him she probably wouldn't be back until after OWL's results came back.

When she saw her results she nearly cried. She had stressed so hard over every single test.

She ran down to the boathouse after that, and had called out excitedly for Severus. He appeared immediately, and Lily shoved her results in his face.

"Outstanding in every subject!" she squeeled, and then tried to hug him. She went through him, obviously but she didn't care.

"You are...very...talented," Snape said to her. The way he said it sounded as if even giving that one little compliment had been a hard thing for him to do.

Lily laughed loudly, before collapsing upon the ground in front of him. She was reeling - the year was about to end, but even that couldn't bring her down. Suddenly an idea hit her and she bit her lip and sat up quickly.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked. Lily had brought her hands up to the buttons on her robes and had started undoing them.

"What do you think? Going swimming of course!"

Severus's eyes darted away from her, and Lily swore she saw a tint of pink appear in his cheeks.

"I'm so happy right now!"

She gave up unbuttoning and instead ripped her robes apart. Buttons flung everywhere, several flying through the ghosts form.

Severus cleared his throat loudly and turned around.

Lily disrobed down to her bra and panties, making a loud splash as she dove into the lake water next to the boats.

"Don't be such a prude, Severus!" she yelled when she noticed him turned around.

"You're a child!" he hissed, but he glanced over his shoulder at her. He mumbled something, and returned to his position. Lily rolled her eyes, and splashed a bunch of water in his direction.

"I'm not a child anymore, Severus. I'm going to be an adult soon! I'll be seventeen in two years!"

That thought did bring her down - he wouldn't see her anymore after seventh year.

Lily sighed, all happiness from her passing the OWL's disappearing. She clambered back up onto the wooden platform, suddenly realizing how cold she was. She cast a warming spell and pulled her clothes back on, reattaching her buttons in the process.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, picking up the parchment with her results.

Severus said nothing, refusing to look at her.

"I'm dressed," she said quietly. At that, however, he did turn back around.

"Year's almost over," she added, looking up at him beneath her wet hair.

"And?"

"And we'll have to wait another three months before we see each other again."

Silence.

Lily suddenly felt like crying, and to keep herself from doing so in front of him she told Severus she had to owl her parents about her results.

She left him standing there, staring at the puddle of water she had created behind her.

Chaos always came with a Potter, he thought to himself darkly.

* * *

Her parents were ecstatic about her results. Her brothers had only ever received A's, and James had even received a T in potions. He hadn't cared in the slightest though.

"One less NEWT for me take, I'll tell ya!" he had said loudly. Her mother hadn't been to pleased to hear that.

When she went home for the summer, Lily was treated like a queen by her parents. If she wanted something, she got it without question. When she asked for new robes and clothes over the summer break, she got them. New quills? Not a problem. Oh, she wanted the new large size collapsible cauldron? She found it next to her bed the next morning.

Lily had never felt so important in her life.

She was also rarely interrupted when she lazed about her room. It was nice, not having to go places she didn't want to. She was the youngest of the family, but she felt like the oldest as he had priority over her brothers.

And so her summer before the sixth year was very laid back.

It was also the year that she heard that Rose and Scorpius were dating. Her mother wasn't at all happy about that and her dad seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but when Rose came over one day during the summer vacation, crying hysterically about her father trying to kill Scorpius, Lily's parents had apparated back with Rose to her own house and calmed down Uncle Ron.

When they came back, Lily ventured to ask what had happened.

"Well, it turns out that Rose and...and Scorpius...have been dating for about three years now, and your aunt and uncle are just now learning of it. Did you not notice anything, Lily?" Her mother had eyed her questioningly.

Lily had replied no, and honestly meant it. Her parents had shrugged it off, but Lily dwelled upon it that night.

Exactly how long had they been dating? Had she really ignored her family members to the point that she was no longer in the circle of Weasley-Potter knowledge? She felt that if she hadn't been stuck on Severus for nearly six years, she would've known that the two were dating.

Albus had to have known. Scorpius was his best friend and one of Rose's closest confidantes.

Lily slept fitfully that night.

It was a Tuesday morning when Lily found out that her brother James had actually managed to get into a wizarding university. Her parents were just as shocked, but even more shocked at where the university was located.

_"United States?_" her father had exploded at hearing the news. Lily couldn't ever remember her father being anything more than laid back. His outburst didn't fail to startle her.

James had just shrugged and nodded. Their mother was pale faced and tight lipped.

"Are you _mad_?" her father had demanded. His voice was lower but there was still a tinge of shock and disbelief in his tone.

"James Sirius Potter!" their mother hissed, her face now turning red. But James was brave and seemed very intent on his decision, so he stared her down. Lily was impressed.

"You got into a university?" she asked, and James grinned widely.

"Yes, I did. It's in New York in America. But they call it a collage...or something." He puffed out his chest.

"Er... wait... isn't that where that... airaplan thingy crashed into that building?" Lily asked.

"Airplane," her father corrected, now shooting daggers at his own son.

James glared at her and Lily could almost hear the sound of his ego deflating.

"Well, yeah. But so what? It's not as if a bunch of people are going to crash an...an airplane into a university!"

Lily gave her older brother a disbelieving look, causing him to scowl.

"Look! You guys wanted me to go to a university! And I sent out owls to all the unis in the area - none took me. So I thought hard about my options and decided to expand my horizons, so to say. And I got accepted! Someone actually wants me at their school! And now you're angry at me for choosing to go? Fuck, make up your minds!"

"Language, young man!" mum snarled, taking a step towards him. Their father put a hand over hers, preventing her from going any closer.

"You are still under our roof, whether you like it or not, and I will not tolerate you talking to me like that!"

James was now glaring at both their mother and father.

"Oh whatever!" he shouted, making for the kitchen door. Just before reaching it he turned back to address his family one last time.

"You two are both acting like... like... well like something that I don't like! But I'm leaving for collage at the end of the summer, whether _you_ like it or not! There's nothing you can do or say that will make me change my mind. You can either accept it and support me or not!"

James then left the room, and Lily turned to look at her mother. She was staring at the spot where her oldest son had been standing. Her face red and eyes wide, they looked a bit wet too if you cared to look closely.

Lily took that as an opportunity to leave the kitchen - best let them be for a while.

* * *

The older she got, the quicker the summer holidays seemed to go. She was suddenly sixteen and had come into womanhood. Lily no longer found herself a clumsy little girl, but a nearly full grown woman. She actually even thought of herself as pretty.

But suddenly it was time to go back to school and Lily was both excited and dreading the new school year.

Severus would be there, she thought to herself giddily like the schoolgirl she was.

But he would be there.

And in an instant she dreaded it all.

The ride on the train was both nerve wracking and frustrating as Ros and Scorpius were sitting right next to her on the seat, yet wrapped up in their own little world. It made her lips curl up in a sneer whenever she saw them together.

Lily had noticed that Albus hadn't said a word to Scorpius. She later learned from James (who had somehow not been thrown out of the house after the blow up with their parents) that Albus hadn't even known what had been going on between his supposed best friend and who he had considered his closest cousin.

Lily found that while she felt bad for her brother for not being told, she otherwise didn't care. Scorpius and Rose were disgusting with their giggling and simpering looks and Albus was just an annoying twat who couldn't get over the fact that not everything was going to be his business and about him when it came to his friends and family.

And so, she turned her attention to her new school books instead.

Drama was definitely not her forte.


	7. Chapter 7

Standard disclaimer

A/N: This is the re-written chapter seven. This chapter is definitely better than what I had originally planned. It has a couple sexy moments, but it also has some creepy bits. You guys will see. Let me know what you think!

Chapter Seven

Afterimage

* * *

Lily went down to the boathouse first chance she got, which happened on a Sunday morning the third week of school.

Severus wasn't there right away, but she didn't mind. She knew he would show up at some point.

Ten minutes later, as Lily was just finishing up her Potions studying for NEWTS, he appeared. The air became cooler, and there was a ghostly scent of potions ingredients in the air. Lily breathed deeply and turned to smile at him.

He was staring down her, an odd expression on his face.

She frowned, shutting her potions book.

"What's wrong?" she asked, covering her nose and mouth self-conciously.

"Do I have something on my face?"

Severus narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He opened his mouth, closed it. Cleared his throat. He looked almost nervous.

"No," he finally replied.

"You've...grown up," he finished lamely, and Lily removed her hand. A grin spread across her face. There was a strange deepening about his cheeks-Lily almost swore he was blushing.

"My mother said the same thing, you know. And get this-my brother James got accepted to a university!"

Severus lifted one eyebrow, a sneer already playing at his lips. Lily saw his reaction and giggled.

"I know, I know. I thought the same thing. But he didn't get accepted to anywhere around here. He's going all the way to the States to a-a collage, I think he called it?"

"It's a college," Severus corrected, and Lily was now the one raising her brow.

"How do you know what it's called?"

"I was in the States for a brief moment during my life," he responded, studying his nails nonchalantly. Lily said nothing, only stared at him before she shook her head.

"Whatever. Anyways, James left the day after school started, and mum and dad are already starting in on Al about where he's going to go. His grades aren't as good as mine, but I think he wants to do something with the ministry-our family has great connections there. He's not quite sure what he's going to do just yet."

Severus looked up from his fingers and gave a deep sigh.

"This is all _very_ fascinating, Potter. But please, do spare me the life stories of your brothers."

Lily felt a flash of anger, but it passed as fast as it had come.

"Well what would you rather us talk about?" she asked, returning her attention to her potions book.

She felt the air get a bit more cold as he settled his form down next to hers. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, suddenly feeling nervous. Her heart began to pound wildly. The words on the book in front of her weren't even registering.

"What do you plan on doing after school is over? You're very talented in Potions. You could go into a wide range of careers with a talent like that," he stated, and Lily felt her face become hot. A compliment from him was rare.

"Well," she started, her voice slightly higher than normal. Lily noted his own face doing that deepening thing again.

"They haven't really sat us down and talked to us yet about what we would do best in. I kinda wanna go into the Medi-Witch/Healer profession. I could work under Madam Pomfrey-Conelly. I dunno if she would take me though. I guess I could also apply for a Potions job here. I heard Slughorn is wanting to retire soon."

Severus narrowed his eyes.

"They should've fired that fool years ago," he spat and Lily gave a small smile.

"What would you recommend, Severus?"

"I recommend you do whatever you feel like doing. You'll be an adult soon. I made...many mistakes in my life. I would not recommend anything to you."

He studied her face as he said this, his dark eyes penetrating her own deep green. It was some time before she realized he had stopped talking, where she was then forced to rip her gaze away from his.

When she did so, he blinked once, twice, and then lowered his own gaze to the book in her lap. He lifted one hand and grazed it across the front cover. A bit of him went through her thigh and she shivered.

"Wh-why did you go into potions?" she asked breathlessly. Severus continued to caress the book on her lap, and Lily tried hard not to squirm as she felt the tips of his cold fingers brush her thigh beneath the tome.

"It was one of the two classes I ever did well in, truly. Because I was told to when I enlisted with Dumbledore. I wasn't allowed the Defense Against Dark Arts class."

Lily's chest hitched as his whole hand went through the book and stroked her just there. It was like the lightest of cold breezes skimming across her hot center.

He did it again, and Lily broke the spell by moaning. She wanted more.

Severus was suddenly across the room, however, and Lily was breathing heavily, her clit throbbing with want.

"Wha-? Why did you st-why are you over there?" she demanded. Severus cleared his throat loudly, pushing one hand against his neck wound. The other was by his side, fingers just slightly shaking.

"You should go," he said in a hoarse voice instead. Lily protested, but when she wouldn't leave, he disappeared instead.

That evening, she thought of him as she touched herself, and when she came, his was the name that came tumbling from her lips.

* * *

She found herself a stalker, or so she joked with Lysander. Really, he was only a sixth year Hufflepuff, but she found herself disconcerted and annoyed nonetheless.

He followed her around just about everywhere, yet she had managed to lose him a couple times when she wanted to go to the boathouses-having the Marauders Map did wonders.

He followed her to her classes (most of which he was taking himself, she noticed). He followed her to the joint student common room. He was always staring and every time she caught him doing so he never looked away. Like he wanted her to know he was watching.

When she got up to go someplace, he got up too and followed her there. Once he had even followed her to the loo, but she had sat in the stall for near an hour with the map on her lap. She was just about to go out there and blast him with a Jelly Legs when his dot finally turned away and went towards the Hufflepuff dorms.

This went on for about a week and a half before she finally got fed up with it and told Al and Scorpius.

"Who is he?" Al had demanded, eyes dark and arms crossed. Scorpius was standing next to him, a concerned and slightly miffed look on his face. Rose was hovering next to Scorpius' elbow, a dark look marring her pretty face.

Lily gulped and replied, voice wavering, " George Dunbarry...thats what the map said. I've never talked to him before."

"A right creep, that one. Following you to the loo like that-don't you worry about it, Lils. We'll take care of it!" Rose exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

Lily smiled at them and thanked the three before they left the Slytherin common room to find Dunbarry. She was glad that the three of them had made up; it was nice to see the trio back together.

She was hoping that that would be the end of it. That she would no longer have to be bothered by Dunbarry's annoying presence.

* * *

However, it wasn't. Not truly. He stopped following her places and stopped showing up randomly. But whenever she saw him in classes or in the joint common room or in the Great Hall, he stared. Stared her down, stared at her, and made her feel downright uncomfortable.

She spoke to Albus about it a couple more times, who had taken to walking her to and from her classes. Scorpius also walked her, and sometimes Rose. Lily took the map with her everywhere, and hadn't been down to visit Severus for a couple weeks. It was frustrating. There was a longing in her chest, and ache that couldn't be satisfied. Whenever she thought of him, it only got worse. She wanted to see him, badly.

One night, she couldn't take it any longer and took the map out. She had inherited the Invisibility Cloak the beginning of that year, since this would be Al's last year. When Lily graduated it was to be either passed down the Weasley line starting from Hugo, or kept for Lily's own children.

With the map in hand and the cloak wrapped about her, she made the slow trek out of the castle and towards the boathouses. She nearly ran into Filch twice, but just barely managed to make it past him.

When she arrived at the boathouse, she whispered Severus' name, then questioned herself as to why she was whispering.

He appeared seemingly out of nowhere, conjuring himself up so fast that Lily nearly screamed.

"It's a bit late, Potter. And you should be in your rooms," he drawled. Lily instantly felt her stress from the past weeks fade as she sighed.

"I just wanted to see you, is all. I've been busy with my stalker."

Severus' nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed into dark slits.

"Stalker?"

"Yeah, this guy was following me everywhere, even once to the restroom! But Al, Scorpius and Rose took care of it. Kinda. The guy doesn't follow me anymore. He just looks me at all the time. It's creepy. But he's the reason why I haven't been down to see you."

She shivered in the cold and suddenly wished she had a blanket. Now that she was there, she was tired. The trek out of the castle had taken more out of her than she had expected, and she settled down on the wooden boards beneath her, casting a warming spell.

Severus was almost instantly at her side, still studying her.

"You really shouldn't have come out here, Potter," he said, but didn't tell her to go. Lily mumbled something that he didn't quite catch before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

She awoke several hours later to find Severus still sitting next to her. Her legs were cramped and her back and neck were killing her.

"Ah, bloody hell. What time is it?" she asked before casting a charm to tell her the date and time. She groaned when she remembered that it was Thursday. Not only that but she was supposed to have been in her Arithmancy class 30 minutes ago.

"I gotta go," she said, standing up. She grimaced as her knees cracked. Severus only nodded a goodbye and disappeared.

She ended up missing her second class of the day, also. And by the time she was ready, it was lunch time. Instead of going to lunch though, she instead decided to sleep in her comfy bed.

By the time she woke up again it was nearly dinner time, and she was now wide awake. She cursed loudly before making her way down the stairs. There, she spotted her brother and Scorpius playing chess. Lysander was watching the game avidly.

"Where you been all day?" her brother exclaimed loudly upon seeing her, causing a couple of third year girls to yelp.

Lily yawned and pointed up. "Sleeping. Didn't sleep well last night, and then decided to take a nap during lunch. Didn't even wake up until just now."

Lysander pulled his attention away from the game long enough to hand her her missed school work.

"Not much happened in Arithmancy. Just reading chapters three to six. Everything else you have to do is homework," he said, returning to the game.

"Thanks," she said, before tossing it all on the couch.

"Are you guys coming down to dinner?" she then asked, putting a hand over her tummy as it growled loudly.

Albus laughed, commanded a pawn and then said, "Have you checked the time? You missed dinner two hours ago!"

Lily's jaw dropped, her eyes wide.

_"What?_"

"Yeah," mumbled Scorpius slowly, eyeing his chess pieces with a sharp look.

"Go down to the kitchens, I'm sure one of the house-elves wouldn't mind making somethin," Albus muttered distractedly.

Lily sighed in part anger, before turning around and stalking out of the common room.

* * *

Most days, she loved being a Slytherin. They knew how to throw parties, they were ambitious, clever and cunning. Funny in a dark way, a way that Lily appreciated for she herself had a dark sense of humor.

But other days-such as this one-she hated being a Slytherin.

Her common room was located beneath the lake, she knew that much. It was so tiring to climb all those stairs just to get to the floor where the kitchens were. Not to mention the staircases had minds of their own and would move to whatever floor they wanted to whenever they pleased.

After winding up on the sixth floor three times (however that happened, she wasn't quite sure), she finally spotted the giant fruit bowl painting at the end of a hallway just off the staircase.

She sighed happily and power walked down the hall. As she reached the painting, though, it occurred to her that she had forgotten how to get in. She knew she had to tickle one of the fruits, but couldn't quite remember which.

"Let's see here," she said to herself, one hand on her hip, the other raised in the air ready to tickle.

The apple?

She scratched the tips of her fingers across the red apple, which started to squirm and shriek loudly.

"Cut it out, you fuckin twit!" the apple screeched loudly. It's voice was deep and hoarse.

Lily jerked her hand back, face turning as red as the apple in the painting, mouth a hard line.

"Why I never-!" she sputtered angrily, hands clenched at her sides.

"Never wot?" the apple demanded, seeming to puff itself up. Like it was challenging her.

"Never bin insulted by a paintin? Well well, girlie, there's a first time for everything! Wotchu think you doin anyway, wakin up a perfectly good apple up like me? I bruise easily ya know!"

Lily glared at the apple, arms crossed.

"Oh whatever!" she spat.

"You're a bloody painting, not a real apple! You're lucky I don't just scratch all that paint off!"

The apple seemed to jump back and Lily swore she could see a glare coming from the painted fruit. Just as she opened her mouth to say something that her mother most likely would have slapped her across the face for, a voice came from behind her.

"Is there a problem here?"

Lily spun around and felt her stomach drop, her blood run cold.

It was him.

George Dunbarry was standing there, staring at her with that...look. That look that made her skin crawl. It was then that Lily realized that she had left the common room without the marauders map. She had left without her brother, without Lysander or Scorpius.

It was also that very moment that Lily remembered that, oh shit, the Hufflepuff common room and dorm was located on the same floor as the kitchens.

She suddenly felt very _very_ vulnerable.

George was still standing there. His black hair seemed to merge with the shadows behind him. She felt like his bright blue eyes were boring a hole through her skull, and she involuntarily shrunk back against the painting. The apple behind her was silent.

"Er..."

George walked towards her. She felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

When he was nearly face to face with her, he reached a hand out and Lily winced. But instead of touching her, he reached past and tickled the pear right above her head.

She turned just slightly as the pear started to giggle and then a doorknob appeared.

"At least this one has it right," she heard the apple grumble, and Lily gave a forced smile.

"Th-thanks," she said, and George said nothing, just continued to stare her down. His arm was still resting against the painting. She could hear his breathing.

"Not a problem," he finally said. And then he did something that, years later, the thought of made her feel sick.

He leaned forward, pressed his cheek against hers, and _smelled her hair._

"What the _fuck?_" she hissed angrily, shoving him away viciously.

He did nothing to stop her pushing him away, just gave her a smirk. He put his hands in his pockets, and Lily automatically pulled out her wand.

"What the fuck is your problem, you creep?" she demanded loudly, her voice echoing down the empty hallway.

But Dunbarry said nothing. His smirk only deepened and his eyes glinted brightly. Lily faltered for a moment, her wand shaking.

"Your brother and his little boyfriend don't scare me. I'll get what I want," George finally said, eyes narrowing. His smirk was gone and a look that Lily couldn't describe sat upon his face.

"W-what," she breathed. She pointed her wand right at his head, her other hand reaching behind her and gripping the doorknob tightly.

"I want you," he stated confidently.

"And I_ will_ get what I want. I never settle for less."

Lily sucked in a sharp breath.

"Fuck off," she ground out, turning the knob and darting inside the kitchen quickly.

The last thing she saw was Dunbarry's teeth as he grinned maniacally.


	8. Chapter 8

Standard Disclaimer

A/N: Okay, so this story is coming to an end sometime soon. We still have another year for Lily in store but after that I'm fairly sure this story will be ending. Now, I don't want to spoil anything but there** IS** a **SEX SCENE** in this chapter. It's hot. Pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've written for this story so far, let alone any story I've ever written!

Let me know what you guys think, as always. Please enjoy!

Afterimage

Chapter Eight

* * *

Lily was sufficiently creeped out for the next few days. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she tell Al and Scorpius, or go to a professor? Or both? She had the feeling that if she said something to a professor, they may just pull Dunbarry aside and give him a talking to.

And then he would know she was scared.

She decided not to say anything to anyone, not even to Severus. She kept the map on her person at all times, and had the invisibility cloak tucked away in her bag, which also housed her books.

She was taking all necessary precautions to keep away from Dunbarry.

She did a good job of it too, she thought. She rarely traveled the halls alone at night, and when she did used the cloak and map. She stuck close to others when she went to class.

Lysander had taken to walking with her even when it meant being late for his own classes. She appreciated it, but put a stop to it when he received detention from one of his professors. He had never asked her why or never tried to see what was wrong.

As far as she knew, he was just being helpful. She suspected he had known something had happened the night she had missed dinner, but he never confirmed her suspicions.

Lily wasn't quite sure why she hadn't said anything, and she felt like she had no reason to for the next several months. Dunbarry hadn't come to her since the kitchen fiasco, she hadn't found herself feeling watched (for he was no longer watching her, she had noticed-which was strange).

A couple weeks went by and nothing happened. Weeks turned into months. Still nothing. She began to relax and almost forgot about the whole situation.

Until Halloween.

* * *

For some reason, Lily felt more excited than ever for Halloween this year. Maybe because she realized that all these fun filled school events would be over in two years time.

Whatever it was, Lily felt herself become ensconced with her family and classmates excitement for the Halloween dinner, ball and the after party that was to be hosted by Slytherin house.

She had pondered over who or what she would dress up as for Halloween, and it took her several weeks leading right up to two days before the celebrations took place, before she finally decided what to dress up as.

She refused to tell her family and friends what she had decided on.

"I want it to be a surprise!" she had said, causing her brother to roll her eyes.

But when she had come down the stairs from the dorm the night of the dinner, she knew it had been well worth the wait.

However, no one aside from a couple of muggle borns even recognized who she was supposed to be.

"Lily," Albus had said when she was finally standing in front of them. He coughed several times to hide his laughter. She had just scowled, arms crossed.

"You look like a unicorn threw up on you!"

"I'm Lady Glinda, you fool!"

"Lady who?" he asked, brows furrowed in confusion. Lily sighed in exasperation and suddenly wondered if perhaps she had gone a bit overboard on the glitter and silver eyeshadow.

"Oh, for fu-don't you ever read? Wizard of Oz, hello? Mum and Aunt Hermione took us to see Wicked when we were young! Surely you remember?"

Albus had denied that he did, his face turning just a bit pink. Lily only smirked.

"Of course you do, you wouldn't stop talking _for weeks _about how you were going to marry Elphaba-"

"Right! Let's get going!" Albus interrupted loudly, causing Rose to giggle and Scorpius to grin widely. Albus walked quickly away from the group, face no longer just pink but nearly flaming.

As they started out of the common room, Rose touched Lily's shoulder and smiled.

"You look amazing, Lils! And don't worry-I remember Wicked. Mum wouldn't shut up for weeks either after she treated us all to it. Although, as I recall, all she talked about was how 'magnificent' the actor for Fiyero was! Shoulda seen dad's face!"

Lily laughed loudly and followed her cousins out.

* * *

The night started off well enough. Lily had transformed her wand to look damn near the same as Glinda's had. Her dress was heavily brocaded. It had been so heavy, in fact, that Lily had had to cast a lightening charm just for her to move. The color was somehow white and pink, purple and blue all at once and Lily herself wasn't even sure how she had managed it.

There was a thin coating of fine silvery glitter all over it, giving her the shimmery effect that she had desired.

She had added a slight gold tone to her hair, and curled it into ringlets which she had then pulled up close to her head. The effect was startling for she almost hadn't recognized herself in the mirror before leaving that night.

She hadn't done much to her face-red lips, black mascara. Silver eyeshadow, and just a hint of blush.

People she didn't even know came up to her constantly and gushed about her outfit, much to her glee. Her ego got a solid stroking that evening.

She danced a couple songs with Lysander and Lorcan, and once with Scorpius even. She seemed to glide across the dance floor, the dance lessons her mother had taught her several years ago coming into her mind as if she had been taught just that week.

She laughed, she danced, she ate. She had fun. She didn't even register the piercing blue eyes that were staring at her all night. She didn't notice the way he stared at her all evening, didn't notice that when she had left the ball for a breather outside that he had also gotten up and followed her.

She didn't realize that she wasn't alone in the hallways, for her own shoes were clacking to loudly on the stone floor for her to hear his footsteps.

She only noticed when it was to late, once she had realized she was actually alone. Lily had taken out the map then and had felt her blood go ice cold.

There her dot was, standing in the hallway. All other dots were inside the Great Hall. So many dots, that it made the Great Hall look like a large, writhing black mass.

There was only one other dot in the hallway with her. It was also stopped, just a couple of inches away from her dot.

And it was labeled George Dunbarry.

Lily whirled around as fast as she could in her ridiculous mess of a dress, silly transformed wand thrust out before her.

He was just out of her visual range, hiding in the shadows of firelight. His eyes, the only thing visible aside from his mouth, gleaming dangerously. She was sure he was wearing some kind of mask, like one of those old time costume party masks from the 20's or 30's. He was wearing a black suit and slacks.

Lily sucked in a breath, fear chorusing through her entire being. She had never felt this scared before, not even when she had met Buckbeak for the first time as a child.

"Wh-" she started but couldn't finish for her was now walking slowly towards.

Run, she told herself. Fucking run, get the hell out of there! her mind screamed. Yet she couldn't move, couldn't even think of a spell or a hex to send him flying back down the hallway.

"I told you I would get what I wanted," Dunbarry hissed, and Lily whimpered. Her wand hand was shaking like a leaf in a winters breeze.

"I told you. And I also told you I always get what I want."

* * *

That night had been nothing more than a scare tactic, she realized later. He had merely pounced on her and grabbed her hair, shoving her against the wall and smelling her skin. He hadn't tried to kiss or even touch any other part of her body. Lily knew she had been lucky for that.

Her family had found it a bit strange that she hadn't wanted to participate in the Slytherin afterparty, but chalked it up to her being her.

"You know how she is," she heard Albus mutter to Rose and Hugo before ignoring her and going to retrieve his Firewhiskey stash.

Lily had retired to her dorm where she had slowly removed her costume, banishing the makeup from her face. She removed the curling charm from her hair, watching in the mirror as her hair fell flat. She changed into her pajamas, crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep.

She had terrible nightmares that night.

* * *

Classes resumed as normal, yet Lily didn't fall back into the false security that Dunbarry had led her into last time. She kept on her toes and only visited Severus twice in the month of November, as much as it pained her to do so.

November passed with nothing short of smirks from Dunbarry.

He would've been a wonderfully horrible Slytherin, she thought.

* * *

December came and with it the light dusting of snow. The castle was overcome with the bustle of Christmas spirit, even though the hols were weeks away.

A Hogsmede weekend was coming up and Lily had decided she was going to go, if only for a Butterbeer and some shopping.

The weekend came and Lily prepped herself for the cold weather and the walk down to the town. When she had throw her warmest scarf and mittens on, she left the castle with her cousins.

She traveled with them to the Hogs Head where she sat and drank a couple butterbeers before leaving the bar with Rose to go Christmas shopping.

"Bit early, isn't it?" Albus asked, slamming his bottle on the table once had drained it. He then belched loudly. Lily wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"It's never to early for shopping! And I want to make sure I get all the gifts on my list before half the items go out of stock," Rose replied, fanning the air in front of her. Albus rolled his eyes and shrugged, signaling Rosmerta for another butterbeer.

Lysander, who had been sitting at the table quietly, drained his own bottle and stood up to join Rose and Lily.

"I think I'll be coming with you. Got my own shopping list and stuff. C'mon, I'll walk with you two."

They said one last goodbye to Albus and Scorpius who waved in return, and set off into the cold of the small town outside of Hogwarts.

* * *

To be honest, Lily didn't find much of anything for her friends and family. She spent a bit of money on a necklace and earring set for Rose, a gift certificate to Honeydukes for Albus and some Weasley Wizarding Wheezes for James (she figured he would like a bit of home to show to his classmates in the States). She couldn't find anything for Scorpius or Hugo, nor for her parents.

She decided to take some catalogs back to the castle with her and look through them later in the month. She could possibly find something hidden in the pages.

Lysander and Rose stayed with her for the duration of their shopping, but they all split up once their purchases had been made. Lily felt a tinge of uneasiness as she waved to them. Lysander caught her eye for just a second, giving her a knowing look.

Be careful, his eyes said. She gave him a small smile and a nod before turning and going back towards the castle.

She didn't make it far, though. As she was making her lonely way up towards Hogwarts, the Shrieking Shack caught her eye. She stopped in place, and leaned against the fence that enclosed the great hulking mansion. It creaked with the bulk of her small frame.

As she stared, she imagined what the house once looked like. The peeling white paint became beautiful and fresh in her minds eye. The huge bay style windows became paned with glass once again, and the lawn that was now choked with weeds and covered in a sparse smattering of snow became full and lush with life.

She smiled, and started walking again, running her hand along the length of the fence. She wondered if Severus was in there now, waiting and wondering himself if she were going to pop in at any moment.

She decided to head up to the house and made her way quickly to the front door. When she reached the entrance, she glanced down the hill towards the fence.

Dunbarry was standing where she had been moments ago, running his hand along the fence. He was staring up at her, his facial expression hard to read. The unmistakable feeling of being cornered overwhelmed her.

If she went inside, she would have nowhere to go. If she went back down the hill, he would undoubtedly harass her. She bit her lip before rushing inside the house. She knew he would be after her within moments.

She took the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping at the top. She ran as fast as she could down the hallway to the room where Severus usually lay against the wall.

She burst into the room full force, chest heaving. Severus was there as usual, and he took one look at her and actually made it to his feet.

"Potter!" he gasped, striding towards her quickly and face scrunched up in pain. He grabbed her shoulders momentarily, but Lily shook him off and shut the door as quickly as she could, locking it into place.

It wouldn't hold if he decided to check the rooms; one Alohomora and she would be done for.

"Severus!" she hissed quietly, eyes filling with tears. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure Dunbarry could hear it from downstairs.

"Wh-" Severus started, before grunting and grabbing his throat. Lily shook her head, eyes wide with fear. She grabbed his hand tightly and dragged him into the darkened corner of the room.

"Dunbarry is coming for me," she said, voice high and body shaking. Severus' eyes flashed-with anger or pain, she wasn't sure.

"Who?"

Lily sighed, and started pacing. She didn't let go of his hand though, nor did he make any move to do so either.

"Dunbarry-George Dunbarry! Hufflepuff, the stalker! He's after me! He saw me looking at the house, saw me going in. He was standing right where I had been. And I know...I think I know...I know what he wants and_-oh Severus!_ I don't want him to take it from me!"

Lily was now on the verge of hyperventilating, and Severus was just staring at her. His hand was gripping hers tightly. Finally, he glared angrily at her and pulled her closer to him. The force of his yank of her arm was enough to jerk her out of her fit.

"What do you mean, he's after you Potter? You're not making sense-" He tried to peer into her eyes, but Lily wouldn't let him.

"No nononono...he...assaulted me last month. And two months before. I-I didn't tell anyone because he said he wasn't scared of Al or Scorpius-they had both confronted him when I told them about his stalking me...I was so scared, Sev. I wanted to tell you too, but he never let me get a moment to myself and now-fuck!"

A creaking on the stairs startled Lily into yelping, and Severus pulled her even closer to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. A bit of her fear disappeared. He walked backwards with her in his arms, until they were in the farthest and darkest corner from the door. The light from the windows didn't even reach this far.

"You silly_ twit!_" he whispered harshly into Lily's hair, his lips just barely brushing her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed as she turned her face into his chest. Her own arms grasped his cloak tightly, pulling at him.

"You should've told someone, Lily," he whispered, voice hoarse. Her eyes flew open and she pulled her head out of the safety of his cloak and turned her gaze up. He was staring down at her, eyes dark and Lily knew it was going to happen.

He twirled around so fast, she became dizzy. Now she was the one in the corner, his back to the door.

Her heart was pounding wildly again, but not with fear. Eyes wide, mouth half open, she ran her hand up his arm brushing over his chest briefly before fingering the black tresses at his shoulder. Her hand then fell upon his shoulder, pulling him backwards as she shrunk further back into the corner.

Severus followed her, bringing one hand up to cup her face gently. She whimpered, her own hand cupping the back of his neck, pulling his face towards hers.

The kiss was like cold fire-so cold it made her lips burn, her legs quiver. It set her heart pounding so hard she was sure she would suffer a heart attack.

Severus gripped her left hip tightly, his other hand resting on her back. He groaned as their tongues battled, and Lily felt like the ground was falling out from beneath her.

Her hands were all over him, running down his chest, nails scraping his back lightly. He broke off from her mouth to start kissing the skin beneath her ear, before desperately ripping off the scarf around her neck.

"Sev'rus," she mumbled, trying to pull him closer. He continued his trail down her neck, hands coming up to flick the buttons of her shirt open, exposing her and the plain dark green bra she had on.

He studied them for several seconds and Lily suddenly felt embarrassed, and cupped her hands beneath his chin, bringing his face back towards her for another searing kiss. She moaned, and he pushed her back flat against the wall as he laid his body flush against her own.

The door to the room opened suddenly, and Lily's eyes flew open, her mouth ripping away from his violently, automatically bringing her arms that had previously been wrapped up in his robes, roaming his body towards her own chest. She pulled her shirt tight against her, realizing that, _Merlins balls_, she had started a make out session in the middle of a dangerous situation!

Severus didn't move from where he was, even pushing her impossibly closer to the middle of the corner where they were at. Lily looked at Severus straight in the eyes, fear making her face pale. Severus himself had a look mixed with anger, lust and disbelief. Then his face became it's normal dark frown, and Lily closed her eyes.

'_Stay still,_' his voice came quietly.

Lily only nodded slowly, eyes still closed.

She heard a couple footsteps as someone entered the room. But they only seemed to enter, not explore, for there was no more sounds of movement.

She felt the brush of Severus' hair on her cheek as he turned his head to look over his shoulder. He had a perfect view of the young man who Lily had described as Dunbarry.

He was looking around the room, eyes narrowed. His mouth was turned up in thoroughly devious smirk and his hands were in his pockets. He was wearing nothing more than a thick yellow and black jumper and a black scarf.

Severus continued to stare at the boy, and watched as he turned his head in their direction. He obviously couldn't see that far into the darkened corner, for he just continued to stand there and stare at the very area they were at.

Severus caught the boys eyes without the child knowing, and Severus stare deep. He hadn't tried to use any of his Legilimancy since he had died-he didn't know if it would even work.

But then-there!-he was in the teens mind...bringing up images of his childhoods past. The fear of being chased by his brothers Niffler. It was the fear that Severus used against him, and the smirk that was on Dunbarry's face vanished so quick, it was almost like it had never been there.

"What-is-no!" Dunbarry choked out, hands coming up to claw a bit at his face.

Severus projected all of the fear he could, until Dunbarry screamed and Severus finally let the kid go. Dunbarry fell back onto the floor, and Severus hissed in gleed to get up. The boy scooted back and then

scrambled to get up. He looked around the room is terror, before fleeing the room.

Severus waited until the slamming of the front door could signal Lily's safety.

"He's gone," he murmured and Lily opened her eyes wide.

"What did you do?" she asked quietly, shifting against his frame. She could feel something hard resting on her thigh, and knew exactly what it was. It made her ache.

"Legilimancy," he replied just as quietly, not moving from the spot. Lily breathed in sharply and raised her brows.

"I-I didn't know that was possible...I mean I had heard, but..." She trailed off staring into his eyes. Severus was moving his head closer and closer to her, centimeter by centimeter. Lily bit her lips as she brought her own face up towards his.

Their lips touched again and Lily was almost glad that Dunbarry had cornered her in the Shrieking Shack.

They mauled each others mouths for some time until Lily eventually ended up on her back with her shirt unbuttoned fully and Severus over top her, his many robes stripped down to his thin long sleeved under shirt. His neck didn't seem to bleeding at all. His slacks were tight between his legs, aching with the desire to be touched.

Lily's own legs were wide open and rubbing up against that hard length, whimpering and gasping and moaning with her own need.

Severus was tonguing her cleavage, then kissing and nipping and licking at her clothed nipples. Lily gasped loudly, and Severus groaned loudly.

She whined as Severus suddenly grasped her hips tightly, breathing ragged and face slightly flushed.

She looked up at him, unconsciously rocking her hips up towards his own.

"Oh, whattt?" she whined, hair lying wildly about her head.

"Please," she whimpered, almost sounding pained.

"_Please_ _don't_ tell me you're going to stop. I-I want it, please I need it!"

Severus shook his head and Lily almost burst into tears.

"I shouldn't. I shouldn't be doing this-" he was cut off as Lily brought her head up to smash her lips against his. She pulled away and kissed him again and again and again.

"Mmmmph-Potter-" kiss "-we shouldn't-" kiss "-do this I'm-"

He never finished his sentence. He seemed to give up and settled back to kissing her passionately, pushing her hips into the hard wood of the floorboards beneath her. He rubbed against her center slowly as he held her down and Lily gasped and mewed against him. He kissed her just as slowly, feeling himself throbbing.

He wanted her, wanted inside her. For a moment, he doubted this to be the right thing, but when Lily said his name in a breathy voice, he lost it.

He splayed his hands out against her thigh and hips, thumbs pointing inward. They rubbed gently at the inside of her thighs, slowly moving closer to her aching core.

When they reached home, Lily gasped audibly, her eyes rolling back into her skull. Severus deftly flicked open the buttons of her jeans and slid them slowly down and off. She lifted her legs to help him remove the item of clothing.

She was now lying under him, shirt unbuttoned and hair a mess. Jeans hnaging off one foot and her legs splayed open. His hands had returned to her thighs and were now creeping underneath her matching underwear.

Lily's eyes fluttered open, biting her lip as Severus dipped his thumb inside her.

She hissed and groaned, grabbing his forearm.

"First time," she mumbled, face turning red. Severus took in a sharp breath before sliding his thumb out slowly and pushing back in just as slow.

He set up a rhythm, wringing mews and moans from Lily like she was a special kind of insturment that only he knew how to play.

Eventually Lily cried for more, and Severus looked her in the eyes. They were pleading and Lily swallowed audibly before nodding.

Severus undid his trousers slowly and when he revealed himself, Lily's eyes looked as if they had become charmed with an Engorgement Spell.

"Oh my.." she stuttered, voice wavering.

Severus smirked, and let her stare before he started to stroke himself at a steady pace. Lily's gaze never left the hand that was alleviating a little of his need.

Finally he positioned himself at her lips. But he didn't go in.

He looked her in the eyes and muttered, "Where's your wand?"

She pointed over towards his right leg, where her jeans were still resting half off her leg. He grabbed her wand and handed it to her, absentmindedly rubbing her clitoris with his thumb.

He told her to cast a light numbing charm, and she did so, breathing quick and shallow.

When she was done she dropped her wand and brought her hands up to rest on Severus' forearms.

He started rocking slowly and Lily found it felt good.

When she was fully relaxed, Severus pushed in in one swift thrust and Lily's whole world exploded in cold, yet burning, stinging pain. She whimpered and her eyes teared up and spilled over the sides of her face.

Yet after he ran his hand over her cheeks, wiping the tears away; after he kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose and finally her mouth, the pain was replaced with something else. It was still sore, and he still was barely moving. But it didn't hurt as much.

Ten minutes later he had set a steady pace of movement and Lily was grasping everything on his person. It felt so good, so wet and slick and hot...

When she orgasmed 30 minutes later, Severus following suit (it was cold as ice, an odd feeling), she had never felt so complete in her whole life.

* * *

Good? Bad? To much? Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: A reviewer asked me how Severus was able to touch and feel Lily. It's because he's more tethered to the place where he died. He had a much tighter grasp on life than other ghosts that haunt Hogwarts grounds. His energy dwindles to almost nothing when away from the Shrieking Shack, which is where he died. His spirit is much more restless than others.

The same reviewer also asked if others could see him. They could, if he appeared to them. But he mostly spends his days haunting the waterfront of the boathouses and the Shrieking Shack. Just to put any confusion to rest.

Afterimage

Chapter Nine

* * *

Lily made it back to the castle late that night, mind a whirlwind of thoughts. She was lucky none of the professors caught her out after curfew.

She knew she was able to touch and feel Severus, but she never knew they would be able to do...well...that. It had felt so good, but also so very very odd.

He hadn't felt warm, but cool to the touch. And when he had entered her, it had felt like someone had taken a large icicle and inserted into her warm body.

She had bled, of course. She was pretty sure she was still bleeding, albeit not by a whole lot. She had heard from other girls that had lost their virginity that there was blood the first time. She hadn't even realized she had been bleeding until they had finished.

Lily's face turned pink and her heart skipped a beat when she thought about the way Severus had kissed her open lips as she moaned his name at completion. He had flicked the tip of his tongue across hers, thrust once, twice and came.

It had been amazing, if painful at first. She was glad she had given it to him.

But the thought of next year being her last crushed her happiness down flat.

It would be her last year here. She would have to start studying and figure out what she wanted to do.

Severus was right, she thought as she climbed into bed quietly that night. She lay there for quite some time, relishing the soreness of her lower half and wishing she could do it again.

If she were to make a career out of something that she was good at, she could choose Potions. And that idea was looking more and more promising. It was a class she liked, she was excellent at the class.

And that kind of career could actually offer something to the wizarding world. She could be the first witch to discover a new type of potion. Perhaps she could go into experimental potions?

She cupped herself in her right palm, remembering the look Severus had on his face when he had climaxed.

It had been utter bliss.

She didn't want to lose that, not when she had finally found it.

Potions it would be, then.

* * *

Dunbarry stopped all attempts at stalking her. He stared occasionally, but now, when she stared back, something happened to him. He would get this tight lipped, fearful eyed look, then he would either look at the floor or get up and walk away completely.

A couple weeks later, a rumor went around the school that the Shrieking Shack was indeed haunted. The Potters (aside from Lily) and the Weasley's scoffed at the rumor.

Lily was the only one who truly knew that it was indeed haunted, just not to the extent that the Hogwarts populace thought.

For a moment, Lily had wondered who started the absurd rumor in the school, and then remembered-it had to have been Dunbarry. Severus had performed legilimancy, and had played with Dunbarry's mind. Lily had never seen anything but a smirk or an evil little grin on the teen, and it had felt nice to know that somebody had put fear into his heart.

Lily wondered what he saw these days, when she managed to catch his eye.

During the next couple of days, Lily asked Slughorn for career related advice involving the work of Potions.

"Well, well, Miss Potter! I didn't know you were so interested in this field! Tea?" Slughorn stated jovially, settling down into his seat behind his desk.

Lily sat opposite him, her polite smile in place.

"I am, Professor. Very interested. But I'm not quite sure where to start. I want to go as far as I can, maybe farther, with the potions classes offered here at Hogwarts. And yes, please," she replied, watching as Slughorn summoned a house elf and asked for some tea and biscuits.

He returned his attention to her when he was through and said, "Well, I would first recommend studying very hard for your NEWT level Potions class. You'll find the studies in seventh year classes are most challenging. They also offer you a great deal of experience should you decide to continue with your pursuit of a Potions oriented career!"

A popping noise signaled the return of a house elf and with it, a large silver tray laden with a platter of biscuits and two teacups. The elf placed the tray upon the desk, bowed and popped back out of existence.

Lily picked up the cup offered to her. It filled itself at her touch.

"I've already been studying hard for my NEWT's, Professor. I'm fairly confident I'll make it to the classes for next year. But where would I go _after _to continue my studies?"

Slughorn took a long gulp of his tea and plucked a chocolate biscuit off the plate. He bit into it loudly.

"Well," he said, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing.

"I'd recommend trying to find someone to study under for a the good part of a year-unless you want to become a Potions Master. In which case, an apprenticeship under the tutelage of another Potions Master would be your best bet. I'd estimate your apprenticeship to be around four to eight years, maybe more. Most make it eight years. I heard the late Professor Snape's apprenticeship went on around ten years."

Lily paled and nodded.

She didn't know if she could deal with four years of being away from Severus, let alone _eight_. She could do it though. And in the long run, it could prove a fruitful career.

"I think I'd like to look into that. Thank you, Professor."

They finished up their tea and Lily took her leave. Her next stop was the boathouses.

* * *

He was there, sitting against the wall. Lily entered the boathouse, smiled at him and sat down next to his form. She immediately started talking.

"I talked to Professor Slughorn today. I think I'm going to go ahead and go for a Potions Masters degree. He told me that I would have to study for NEWTs and get into the seventh year classes, but I've already finished up all my potions books for the year. I know I'll get into them. But..."

She trailed off and studied Severus' face. His eyes were focused on the lake water lapping at the boats that floated there before them.

"But," she continued, "He said I would have to study under another Potions Master. And my apprenticeship could take anywhere from four to eight years. That's...a long time," she finished quietly.

Severus nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the water.

"Slughorn is accurate. My own apprenticeship lasted fourteen years. I could have left at four. There was no doubt of my own title of Potions Master. But I chose to do another ten so as to learn how to brew everything precisely. Even a Potions Master can...make mistakes."

Lily bit her lip, turning her gaze downwards. Her chest felt tight. She didn't want to leave Severus for eight years. Lily turned her face back up towards his and put her hand where his would have been. Ice cold.

"I-I wish I could study under you," she whispered.

Severus closed his eyes at that and lifted his arm up. The feeling of a large cold mass traveling from Lily's hand to her shoulder was peculiar. She had the urge to lean into him, but didn't.

"We don't always get what we wish for, Potter," was his whispered response.

* * *

Lily could hardly sleep that night. When she had returned to the castle that evening, she checked out all Potion's books that had been required that year, plus all the ones from prior years. She wanted to make sure she knew everything for her NEWTs.

Which she realized with a start several days later, were only three months away.

She studied during breakfast, lunch and dinner. She sometimes studied through the night. Several times she had gone down to the boathouse and had Severus quiz her (much to his chagrin) on her Potions studies. Sometimes he would lecture about a certain ingredient and why it was key in this potion or the other.

Not once did they mention what they had done together. It hurt Lily, and she started to feel the ache of want within her again. She only wondered if he felt it it too.

* * *

A couple nights later, Lily was restless. She couldn't sleep, couldn't focus on her studies. The night before she had dreamt of their night of passion. It had somehow seemed more intense in her mind and when she had awoke she felt the heavy weight of disappointment, along with the wetness of her undies.

The night of her restlessness she had gone to the common room to study but couldn't focus for more than a minute before zoning out and thinking about that night.

An hour later Lily returned to her dorm, dressed warmly and threw the invisibility cloak over her. She headed not towards the boathouses, but towards Hogsmede.

Towards the Shrieking Shack.

She arrived fairly quickly, and not a person was on the streets. The windows of all the houses and storefronts sat dark.

When she got to the room where she knew Severus would be, she shut the door quietly and tiptoed over to the ghost who was leaning against the wall. She stopped in front of him.

"Who's there?" he asked gruffly, and Lily remembered she still had the cloak on.

"It's me," she whispered and pulled the cloak off. Severus' eyes widened.

"I knew that insufferable brat had a means of getting around the castle without being caught!"

Lily looked at the cloak in her hands, confused.

"Huh?"

Severus shook his head, before asking her what she was doing there this late at night.

"Oh! Erm..." Lily's face started to redden. Severus just sat there, arms crossed and head raised high. All haughty and full of himself, she noticed.

"I..."

"Spit it out, Potter!" he snapped, eyes flashing. Lily crossed her arms and looked at the far wall. She could feel her face continue to get hot.

"I was just wondering," she started cautiously, eyes still trained on the wall, "if you were-well. I mean, ha!-I'm feeling...erm...sorry." Severus was eyeing her like she had just grown a second head.

Lily took a deep breath and turned to look at him.

"Okay okay. Let me ask you this. Why do you think I'm here?"

Severus glared viciously at her and snarled, "I don't know, Potter. So you can annoy me endlessly? Please, do enlighten me Potter."

Lily's eyes narrowed and she huffed in exasperation.

"I just wondering if you'd. If you'd...oh fuck, you can read minds!" she exploded. "Just-just read mine! Please," she added hastily.

"An infantile thought process-but really, you're a Potter so I'm not terribly surprised. It's not '_mind reading_'. It's a very advanced form of mental training that was developed to-" Severus stopped and closed his eyes, nostrils flaring.

"Never mind what it was designed for," he muttered instead, struggling to stand. Lily put out a hand but withdrew it when she saw the look her gave her.

He sighed heavily, and stood just outside of arms length.

"Just...look into my eyes and focus. Visualize what it is you want me to see. Merlin forbid you fucking tell me."

Lily suddenly felt very nervous, but nodded.

"Give me a second, okay?" she asked, causing Severus to roll his eyes.

Lily closed her eyes. In her mind, she was remembering the first time she saw him. The fear, followed by the curiosity. The amazement. The disappointment at his sudden disappearance. The elation at his return in her third year.

The year she daringly kissed him. The first time she realized she was starting to feel more than just friendship. The night she actually touched him, due to his connection with this house.

The day she understood that love really _did_ know no bounds.

Then, the months before. When he finally kissed her, after so many years of wanting and waiting and fluttering around each other like butterflies. When he saved her from Dunbarry and when he took her.

That was what she focused on-the feel of him sliding in and out, his cold lips and hands trailing over her hot body. The way he was so thorough and almost...affectionate with her.

She opened her eyes, cheeks tinted pink. She nodded at Severus who said nothing and moved nowhere.

She stared into his eyes and felt like she was falling.

The image of him holding her tight and fucking her slowly suddenly came up forcefully. She gasped, and shuddered as she remembered, almost as if it was happening again. She could feel the phantom touches of her fingers running over her temples, his lips brushing just barely against hers. The sound of his breathing, harsh and ragged.

The memory was lovely, she thought to herself. And then she felt as if she was being torn through the middle and with another loud gasp the memory disappeared. The phantom touches and caresses were gone.

Lily was left standing there, cheeks pink and lips wet with want. Eyes half lidded, trained upon the black of Severus eyes.

Severus himself was standing there, his own eyes wide and lips pursed. He was breathing just as hard as Lily, yet had managed to control his own reaction to her memory.

They both stood opposite each other, riding out the wave of emotion. Finally Lily shivered and coughed delicately.

"So erm wh-" she started, taking a tiny step forward.

But she was never able to finish that sentence, for Severus was upon her without another word.

* * *

A little short, I know! But I'm planning the best parts for the last couple of chapters. I'm fairly sure I'll have at least two more chapters and maybe an epilogue before this story is finished. I'm already thinking of a sequel, although I really should finish my other story.

As always, please please please review and let me know what you thought!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I apologize if this chapter seems a bit out of sorts. Honestly, this was supposed to be chapter 11, but I realized that for some reason I hadn't even wrote chapter 10. And this chapter was so good that I couldn't even think of what to put between 11 and 9, soo...this is now chapter 10!

**WARNING: THERE IS "DRUG" USE IN THIS CHAPTER. **I always imagined James Potter as a stoner, honestly.

Well, let me know what you guys think, please!

* * *

Afterimage

Chapter Ten

* * *

NEWT's came some weeks later and Lily felt as if she breezed through them without a hitch. It was about three weeks from the end of the school year, and while she was confident that her NEWT's had gone well, her stomach was in knots about having to leave for the summer.

Lily Luna Potter was currently sitting outside near the lake. Lysander, Al, Scorpius and Rose were sitting around her. Albus was sprawled out on his back, head resting just below Rose's feet. Rose herself was resting her head upon Scorpius chest.

"What are you lot doing after school?" Lysander voiced, biting at a hangnail.

"Lot's of partying!" Al replied loudly, grinning up widely at Scorpius. Rose, who was resting her head on Scorpius chest, kicked Albus in the head.

"Uh uh! Not this time. Fuck all, if I gotta jump through hoops just to see my boyfriend!"

Albus pinched Rose's ankle viciously, causing her to curse and kick Albus harder.

"No!" she said hotly, once their fighting was over.

"I think this year Scorpius will be mine. I'm planning on taking a break from schooling-"

"That's what parties are for!" Albus interrupted hotly, but Rose ignored him and tried to talk over him.

"-I'm not sure that I want to go to Uni right away and-fucking hell Albus, will you bloody shut up?"

Lily rolled her eyes at Lysander as the fight began to unfold again.

Lysander himself sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry for asking, truly," he muttered before lying down to stare at the clouds.

Lily tuned her family members out and stared wistfully at the boathouse. She was sure he was there, just waiting for her.

* * *

The last two weeks of school, the Headmistress suspended all classes for Sixth and Seventh Years (mostly due to the stress of NEWT's for Sixth Years. As for the Seventh years, they just couldn't concentrate period).

Lily spent nearly every day at the boathouse, only breaking away for lunch and dinner. She also spent most evenings in the Shrieking Shack, fucking Severus as much as possible. At this point Severus had given up trying to justify reasons not to make love to her, and Lily was happy.

This all ended so fast, it seemed. Graduation was held for the Seventh Years two days before school ended. Lily attended with her parents. She was surprisingly excited to see her oldest brother James who had picked her up and spun her around.

With him was a tiny, deeply tanned brunette who introduced herself as Reggie. She was extremely short compared to the rest of the Weasley and Potters, but also extremely nice. Her voiced held an accent that Lily had never even heard on American muggle tv.

James himself had changed. He seemed to be a bit more mature, but also more laid back. Less likely to prank you and more likely to tell you a joke.

He informed Al and Lily that he and Reggie would be staying with them during the summer, and part of Lily suddenly felt a bit better. She had never been terribly close with James, but seeing him this way-all grown up, scraggily beard and long hair pulled back-it made her trust him more.

They had the end of the year feast, which James and Reggie shared next to Albus and the rest of their little group. Reggie seemed to be astounded by every single thing in the Great Hall, from the ceiling to the food appearing.

"What is American school like?" Lily asked, dumbfounded.

"It's not a thang lahk this! I can't git over how all this werks! My high school pretty much suucked compared to this place!"

Lily had stuffed her mouth full of mashed potatoes to keep from laughing.

* * *

The night before the trains were to arrive for the students to take home, Lily snuck down to Hogsmeade and made her way to the Shrieking Shack.

She found Severus in the room he was always in, yet instead of struggling to get up or lying against the wall as he normally had done, he was pacing the length of the room.

"Hey..." Lily said quietly, entering the room. Severus immediately stopped pacing and started towards her.

"I have to go tomorrow," she said, looking down at the floor sadly. Severus said nothing, only lifted a hand to her face. They said nothing more for quite some time. They became caught up in each other on the lone couch in the room.

Lily left early in the morning for the castle. When she entered her common room, the place was bustling with the noise of students saying goodbyes, dragging trunks. A few were even crying.

Breakfast wouldn't be for another hour, and after that, the train would arrive.

Lily headed upstairs and stuffed her cloak into her trunk, then magicked everything else she owned into her trunk. She sat there for some time, staring at the years worth of roughly drafted essays, a library book she had forgotten to return _("__Potions: __A Guide For The Advanced Witch or Wizard_"), half broken quills and empty ink bottles. A strewn out stack of parchment paper, a bit of glitter from her Halloween costume. The map and the cloak.

Lily sighed heavily and closed her trunk with a thud. She then sat on her bed, elbows on knees and head in hands. She could already feel her eyes tearing up.

It always hurt, leaving.

* * *

The train ride home was boring, for the most part. Lily and Lysander played a game of Exploding Snap, but quit after a bump in the train tracks caused the cards to explode prematurely, nearly singeing every one in the carriage.

She felt tired, yet restless. As soon as she would try to fall asleep, she would start thinking of the studying she would have to do for next year, all the time she'd have with Severus. Her mind kept bringing him up, and Lily finally had to give up on sleep.

She was more than happy to get off the train when it finally pulled into King's Cross. She spied her mum and dad, along with James and Reggie, on the platform. They were all looking anxiously for her and Al. Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were standing next to her mum and dad, looking just as excited for their own daughter and son.

After several minutes of waiting for other students to get off the train, they finally had their own chance and took it. They exited the train and Lily was engulfed by her mother in hugs and kisses, her own father ruffling her hair and kissing her forehead. Ginny almost burst into tears when she saw Al, commented on the fact that her baby boy had grown up, and then hugged him tightly.

Lily couldn't help making fun of Al for being mums baby boy.

They all apparated (aside from Lily, who never got the time to take her apparition classes. She apparated alongside her father) into the living room of the Potter house. An hour later, her aunt and uncle, Rose, Scorpius and Hugo all showed up.

They proceeded to have a very large dinner, accompanied by the usual arguing and yelling ("Oi! James! That's my roll, lay off, will ya?"), the stories of how their year went so far and such. Reggie seemed to be even tinier than she normally looked once dinner started. Lily coughed into her hand to cover up her laugh. Reggie had never experienced the Weasley-Potter household before. She could only imagine how daunting they looked as a family right now.

"Oi, Reggie!" Albus said loudly, and the tanned woman looked over at him, startled.

"Y-yes?"

"How does Jamey do over there, in the States? Do they know who he is?"

Reggie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Um...he does good in his classes, Ah guess? Ah mean...what do ya mean when ya say 'do people know who he is?'"

The table quieted down just a bit, the same thought seeming to occur to every one seated. Al's own brows were furrowed in confusion as well.

"I mean," he said, glancing over at Lily, a look of almost disbelief on his face, "He's a Potter..."

Reggie looked more confused than ever now, and she shrugged. "Uhm...Ah know his last name...and so do a lot of other's in school..."

The table nearly exploded in sound, causing the tiny American to jump. Every one was talking at once ("She doesn't know?" "They're American, what do you expect?" "Come on, he only nearly died-!") until her father stood up and yelled for them all to shut up.

Albus was sitting there, shaking his head.

"Are you _bloody_ kidding me? Our father is Harry Potter? Hello? The Boy Who Lived? Come on, doesn't that ring a bell?" he demanded, and Reggie was frantically shaking her head no.

"Al, give her a break. In America, you're lucky if a witch or wizard has even heard of the name Voldemort, let alone our father. That ugly dick rarely set foot outside of the UK," James chided, taking a drink. Ginny hissed something about language, but James ignored her.

"It's quite refreshing, y'know. I don't have to constantly explain to people that yes, I am the son of The Boy Who Lived. Blimey," he muttered.

Reggie was still looking around, confused. James looked over at her and smiled. "Ay, don't worry Reg. I'll tell ya later. To serious for dinner time, you know?"

Reggie just nodded and Al sighed in exasperation. Dinner ended fairly soon after that.

* * *

Lily was sitting on the roof right outside her bedroom window. The sun was setting, and while it was a beauty to behold, she found she couldn't actually focus on or study it. She was thinking to much of him, of her soon to be last school year.

She heard the sound of a window being slid open, and looked to the right of her. The room next to hers had been her older brother James room. She watched as he and Reggie both stepped out onto the roof and sat down. Neither seemed to notice her and she suddenly felt as if she was watching something illicit.

Lily continued to watch as James whispered something to her and pulled out what looked like a hand rolled cigarette. Lil cocked her head to the side, frowning.

What is that, she wondered and watched as James lit the tip of the cigarette with his wand. But when the wind picked up and blew the smoke her way, it didn't smell like any cigarette Lily had ever had the displeasure of smelling.

She couldn't hold her curiosity in any longer and finally asked loudly, "What is that you're smoking?"

Both James and Reggie nearly fell off the roof, the sound of Lily's voiced startled them so bad.

James looked at her wide eyed before glancing back into his room anxiously. Then he narrowed his eyes and hissed, "What the bloody fuck, Lils? You tryin to get me caught? Fuck!"

Lily said nothing, only rolled her eyes. He didn't answer her question, either. After several minutes, James hissed her name again.

"What?" she bit out.

"Come over here, and hit this. I promise it isn't anything bad..."

Lily shook her head no, but got up anyways and went back into the house. She padded quietly to the room next over, opening the door to James old room. She shut and, at the instruction of James, locked the door.

When she was finally settled upon the rooftop between her brother and Reggie, he handed her the item.

"It's a...joint," he whispered, grinning.

Lily shrugged and said, "Okaaay...?"

James huffed and took it back from her.

"Look," he said, bringing the joint up to his lips and sucking in the smoke. He held it for a couple of seconds before breathing it out.

"It gets you high. And there's no side effects-well. Aside from getting super hungry. And it doesn't kill brain cells or anything like that. In wizarding America, this shit's all over the place. It's illegal in the muggle world though. Apparently they're having a "War" on drugs. Ha!" he laughed bitterly and handed it back to Lily, who nervously took a hit.

She coughed a bit and blew it out before trying again. After trying to hold it in for a couple of seconds, she breathed it back out harshly, handing it Reggie.

"If there's a war on this stuff, isn't it bad? What's in this, anyways?" she asked, but both James and Reggie shook their heads.

"Naht at all, hun," said Reggie as she passed the joint to James.

"This is Marijuana. Purest form of grass you can get. Commonly referred to as weed," James replied, taking his hit.

"The reason there's ah war on this stuff," Reggie stated, "is because of the muggle pharmasutical companies-the people who make mugs medsins. The companies make massive ahmounts of munny off of people dyin' from cancer. That's a mugs disease that kills you slowly and painfully. A disease that weed can actually cure."

James handed the spliff to Lily, who took a hit off of it. This time was better, since she didn't choke. She was starting to feel funny, a bit lightheaded. Yet alert.

"The pharmaceutical companies feel threatened by marijuana," James continued from where Reggie left off.

"The muggle American government understands how well marijuana works with cancer, glaucoma, that sort of thing...yet because of the propaganda that the drug has received in past years, they don't want to have to take the time or even make the effort to try and use this pretty little plant for good. Instead, they try to make it out like it's the worst drug in the world."

"Wow," Lily said. "Is this what you've been doing in school, then? Getting...getting 'high'?"

James and Reggie both laughed, and Lily grinned at her brother. He slung his arm around her and shook his head.

"Nah, nah, this isn't ALL that I've been doing. But it is involved quite a bit in my day to day life," he said.

"You said this stuff is illegal in muggle America," she prompted, watching as Reggie blew out a smoke ring. Lily poked her finger through it and watched as it curled around her finger before disappearing on the wind.

"Does this mean it's legal in wizarding America?" she finished, but James was already shaking his head.

"No, no. It's...complicated. In muggle America, possession of this substance is punishable depending on the amount you have. Trafficking-selling it, basically-can result in jail or even prison time. But," he said, taking one last puff before incinerating the roach.

"And this is a big but," he continued, "in wizarding America you are allowed to posses and sell marijuana-but only as an ingredient to potions making. Even then though, no one in the magical world really cares if you smoke it. A lot of people do it."

Lily perked up at this. "Really?" she asked.

"I've been thinking of taking a Potions Master degree after school...what kinds of potions does it work best in?"

James shrugged and cracked his neck.

"I'd only assume that people would use it for pain killers, relaxants. Could be used in a variety of potions, I guess. Potions Master degree, huh? Good luck; I knew you were great at potions but I never thought you'd want to take it as a career path."

Lily smiled, cheeks warming.

"Yeah, well. I really like it. I don't know why. It just comes easy. And it's fun. Plus, who knows? I could be the first person to invent a new potion. Or I could just as easily discover a never before been used potions ingredient!"

James nodded, and they all sat quietly, each contemplating different things in their minds. Finally, Lily whispered, "You got anymore of that...weed stuff? I kinda...I kinda wanna try it again. It didn't do anything to me..."

James gave her a look, smiled at Reggie and then nodded slyly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sandwich bag full bright green buds.

"Ask, and ye shall receive," he stated with pride.

* * *

The summer so far for Lily had been going amazingly well. She spent most days hanging out with Reggie and James, while Albus was off looking for the perfect wizarding Uni (he wanted a party college, is what James called it). Lily was glad she had already decided what to do after school, otherwise she would have been where Al was every day. It looked frustrating.

When the three of them weren't talking muggle American politics, they were taking long walks into the countryside and smoking. When they did this, they would veer off into the woods about a mile and settle somewhere comfortable. Lily found she liked the so called drug. It made her feel pleasant and giddy. Most often than not though, she, James and Reggie would all go home being hungry.

Her mother had gone out to the store more than once that week already.

* * *

Her birthday seemed to creep up on her. She didn't even realize the days had passed by that quickly. Suddenly, Lily Luna Potter was seventeen years old.

Her family held a large party for her, and Lily had never remembered having so much fun. There was music, dancing, laughter. Presents and cake. And after the party came to a close, James and Reggie gave Lily a special present.

She didn't know how she made it to bed that evening. She was so high she didn't even remember walking up the stairs, or lying down on her bed. Nor did she remember closing her eyes.

One moment she was awake, and the next moment, she was out like a light.

* * *

She received her NEWT's results two days after her birthday. She had actually forgotten about them, but once the heavy envelope was lying in front of her, Lily began to feel nervous.

Yet she had no true reason to be-just as she had suspected, Lily had gotten the highest potions grade out of anyone else in her year. She would be going to NEWT's level potions classes this year, along with NEWT level Charms and NEWT Herbology.

School was starting to creep up on her again, now too. And as much as she wanted to see Severus-she only dreamed about the ghost almost every night-she most definitely didn't want the time she spent with her brother and Reggie to end.

But end it did. Luckily, Lily was eased into James leaving the house. He informed the family on Thursday evening that he would have to be back in America by Tuesday morning. Lily was sad, but James had told her not to worry; he would be sending her some special things in the mail once her school year had started.

She hit Diagon Alley with her mum, dad, James and Reggie (who, once again, seemed surprised that a place like Diagon Alley even existed). It was here that her foot long school list became much shorter.

There were a couple books that she hadn't found however, but her father had just taken the list and disappeared down one of the alleys. It was when Lily was just finishing up her fitting for new school robes that her father returned with the rest of her books in tow.

"Knockturn Alley is a hellhole!" he exclaimed loudly, causing Reggie to gawk, Lily to laugh and James to nod, a grin spreading across his face as he trained his eyes on mum. She seemed to be stuck between wanting to slap their father over the head and a giggle.

Lily made one more stop at the Diagon Alley bookstores, frantically searching for the most advanced potions book they had available.

She found nothing and they left the shopping center with Lily feeling a bit happy and a bit sad.

* * *

James and Reggie flooed back to America two days later, and the house seemed empty without the two of them there. She didn't even have Al to keep her company, as he was off gallivanting around Europe, still looking for suitable Uni's.

Lily ended up studying her new potions books for the last month before school started. She wanted things to be fresh in her mind. She couldn't wait for the school year to start again, couldn't wait for her NEWT level classes to take place.

As the days grew closer and closer to September 1st, the dreams she had of Severus increased in intensity.

The day finally came when school was to start back up, and Lily couldn't believe how fast the summer had passed. She remembered her past years at Hogwarts. The summers then had seemed to go by so painfully slow.

Maybe it was because she was an adult now, or just older. Her perception of time had grown with her mind and body.

She didn't know, truly. She was just glad to step back onto the train, even though this time she would be returning to Hogwarts for her last year, and without Al or Rose or Scorpius with her. It felt weird, but good.

She would be starting a new chapter in her life soon enough. All the better for her to savor her last moments as a teenager in her last year of school.

She couldn't wait to see Severus.


	11. Chapter 11

This is the final chapter to this story. I'm sorry that it took so long. At first I couldn't figure out how to begin the end, ha. And then I got sick, so that factored into it. Even later I got a beta, and so had to send all my chapters to her. This chapter is currently un-betad, but I really wanted to get this out there for you.

This chapter has 6,417 words. I'm very proud of myself for finally finishing a story (something I'm notoriously known for not being able to do, ha!).

I want to thank every single one of my reviewers for making this chapter possibe! Thank you so much for staying with me, and please enjoy!

* * *

Lily entered her seventh year of Hogwarts a confident young woman. She was excited for her NEWT's, excited that this year was her last-freedom from her parents!-and she was excited because how well she did in her last year would ultimately affect any jobs or career choices in her future.

Yet beneath all this excitement was also a feeling of dread and what she suspected was fear. She was dreading leaving Severus and she was afraid of life after school. What would her life hold in store for her once she graduated? _Would_she be able to go on to get her Potions Master degree? What if she wasn't good enough? What if all this was for naught?

Many questions such as these poked and prodded at Lily as she lay in bed at night. They were hard to push away when she dreamed of scenarios involving her not being good enough for a potions master to apprentice; nightmares in which she never graduated Hogwarts (one such nightmare was sweetened by the appearance of Severus).

This feeling persisted in the days leading into her school year.

The years sorting was interesting-many first years had been sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff, with only a fourth being sorted into Gryffindor. There had only been 12 students sorted into Ravenclaw, making the Ravenclaw house seem small.

Lily had watched as her own table filled up. She had to make room by scooting almost to the end of the table. Several first years sat down next to her and Lysander, even though they had made room for enough first years to settle as far as midway.

It was insane and Lily wondered why there were so many first years. She had glanced at Hufflepuff and saw they weren't off any better. There table was completely full.

Dinner started shortly after the Sorting Ceremony and Lily talked to Lysander about her summer, especially with the experimental pot.

Lysander had seemed surprised but expressed his own interest in the herb, and Lily promised to share with him when her brother had finally managed to owl her a large amount.

"How large are we talking?" Lysander asked, shaking his shaggy blonde hair out of his blue eyes.

"I'm...not entirely sure, actually. I expressed interest in using a bit in my potions. I'm not even entirely sure if I would be allowed to use it on school grounds. If that's the case, I'll have to find somewhere in Hogsmeade to do it."

Lysander gaped at Lily. Lily flipped her long dark red hair over her shoulder, and smiled brilliantly.

"Lys-I want to become a Potions Master. I want to do something with potions that could help people. There are experimental potions I want to try out and perfect. I doubt the making will be dangerous-Cannabis is really safe as is. Don't worry about it," she added, lifting several forkfuls off mashed potatoes to her mouth.

"I'll let you know when the stuff comes in, either way."

Lysander had nodded and sat silently eating his dinner for several minutes before launching into an extremely hilarious and rather long winded story of his mother went off hunting for non-existent magical creatures.

* * *

Lily had always done well in school. Yet she had never actually _enjoyed_ going to her classes. Sure, she enjoyed getting good grades and being praised for her hard work. But that was just it-it was _always_ hard work.

Lily had to work hard at her studies because she had never truly been interested in any of them, aside from Potions and Herbology.

Her NEWT level classes were nothing like the boring standard ones she had taken near all her life at at Hogwarts. They were fast paced, lot's of brewing when it came to Potions, lots of discussion and experimenting with seeding and plant life in Herbology.

When it came to Charms, things were a bit slower, but much more complex. Where Slughorn had been instated to teach both Basic and Advanced Potions, Professor Flitwick had not been chosen to teach Advanced Charms.

A tall brunette by the name of Professor Liggins was teaching. Lily vaguely remembered seeing her maybe a few times in the halls during her prior years, but had never really noticed her before.

The class was difficult, yet extremely satisfying.

Lily's days were filled mostly with studying with Lysander, classes, and the occasional visit with Severus. As the days went on, she felt the need to see Severus more and more.

One evening, about two months after school had started, Lily decided she was going to see him after dinner.

She ate dinner in a hurry. Lysander, who had been sitting next to her, asked if she wanted to meet up in library after dinner for studying.

"No thanks," she replied, shoveling food into her mouth. The Weasley genes seemed to be most prevalent in her when it came to food.

Lysander had asked her something after that, but Lily had really listened and instead left the table as soon as she was full.

"Sorry," she said absentmindedly, shooting him a weak smile as she stood up. "Maybe tomorrow? See ya!"

Lily was down at the boathouses in record time, and Severus appeared almost instantly. She dropped her bag onto the wet boards with a thud, her breathing ragged from running through the halls.

"What-" Severus started, eyeing her appearance. He seemed somewhat alarmed.

"It's nothing," she said breathlessly, walking towards him. She put her hand out and stroked it through his form.

"I..I just wanted to see you, is all. Feels like it's been forever...can-I mean. Shrieking Shack tonight? Maybe?"

Lily felt her face become hot with her propositioning.

"I wish I could actually touch you," she muttered before lifting up and pecking the cold form of his face. Severus himself tried to touch her heated face, and it several affects on her body, the first being that it cooled her down.

The second affect lit her nether regions on fire with want. Lily's heart jumped in her chest, and she gave a weak shiver. She opened her eyes, wondering when she had closed them. Severus was staring at her intently, nostrils flaring.

Lily wanted so badly to kiss him. She almost attempted to, but caught herself. Lily forced her legs to take a step back, lowering her gaze to the floor. She took several short breaths before looking back up at the see-through form of the man in front of her.

He was staring at her heavily, eyes dark. His hands were clenched tightly into fists, back ramrod straight.

"Erm," Lily said, blushing. She didn't know it was actually possible to rile Severus up while he was intangible. She had never managed to do so before, and wondered what exactly was causing his reaction.

Lily giggled out of nervousness and then asked in a hopeful tone, "Soo..tonight, then? After curfew, I mean? I have to wait for everyone to..."

Severus nodded stiffly, saying nothing. Lily gulped and grinned involuntarily-she hadn't felt this excited in a while.

"Okay, cool," she responded lamely, feeling like she was in Third year once more. He just continued to stare her down, mouth open just the tiniest bit.

"I've, er, gotta go back to-to the common room now," she giggled out, taking a step back and Severus smirked as she did so. It gave her butterflies.

"Until then, Potter," he spoke, finally, and Lily darted out, laughing as she did. She wasn't quite sure why she was acting so giggly and awkward, but she found she sort of liked the way her heart was thumping in her chest.

* * *

Lysander ended up not letting her out of his sight nearly all night. Lily had stuffed the Invisibilty Cloak in her bag, planning to take it out once everyone had left the common room. Yet Lysander, who had caught her reading up on her Advanced Potions book, had sat down next to her on the couch and offered to help her study. Lily had screamed inwardly-she loved Lysander, he was a great friend, really. But she was not in any mood to be kept waiting for Severus, even for Lysander.

But she said none of this, only smiled weakly and shifted the book so it was lying in both their laps. Lysander decided to quiz her after sometime and they separated to opposite ends of the couch. He threw questions at her until nearly 1:00, and finally Lily yawned.

Lysander seemed surprised at the time after glancing at his watch.

"Oh, damn! Sorry Lily, you know how I am about studying!" he exclaimed, grinning with embarassment.

"Why didn't you say anything? I would have stopped, you know!" he then said, standing up and closing the book.

He handed it to Lily, whose response was to shrug and say, "I didn't want to be rude. Besides, I always like to study with you, Lys. It's easy, and I dunno...it feels comfortable."

Lysander was now scratching the back of his head, cheeks pink and a lopsided grin on his face. Lily raised an eyebrow before standing up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Lysander's face wasn't quite so pink anymore, and he was now just smiling at her.

"Okay...well," she said, turning towards the staircase. She planned on throwing the cloak on as soon as she was within her dorm.

Lysander stuttered out something that sounded like a goodnight, which Lily responded to with a smile and a small wave.

She then hurried up the stairs to get ready.

* * *

When she finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack it was nearly 1:30, and Lily hoped Severus didn't think she had forgotten.

She strode quickly up the stairs, ripping the cloak off of her halfway down the hall, before turning into the room.

Severus was standing there, leaning against the wall. He seemed to be in pain, but as soon as he spotted Lily hovering in the doorway all signs of pain disappeared.

He was in front of her within seconds, and suddenly Lily felt very embarassed. She blushed and grinned and looked at the floor before telling him why she was so late.

When she was finished and she had received no reply, Lily turned her face upwards at Severus who was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, wondering if it were to late.

Severus shook his head slowly, before reaching out and cupping her face. Lily smiled gently and closed her eyes, turning her face into his palm. She kissed his calloused hand, and with her eyes still closed, reached out and grasped the rough material of his clothing.

Lily opened her eyes, face flushed and eyes bright. Severus brought his other hand up to rest on her waist.

"You-" he started gruffly. But instead of finishing his sentence he leaned in and kissed her.

Lily sighed as they kissed. The feeling he ignited in her whenever he touched her was magnificent. She couldn't get enough and pushed him forward a bit so she could walk fully into the room.

They broke off for a moment, just so Lily could close the door behind them.

"I doubt anyone will come up here, Potter," he murmured, pushing her back against the now closed door. Lily almost retorted but decided against it when Severus captured her earlobe in his mouth.

They lost themselves in one another that night.

* * *

The year progressed rapidly-Halloween was almost a blur, mostly due to the amount of Firewhiskey she drank at the Slytherin party held in their common room. The morning after that fiasco was confusing and hellish.

Confusing because she woke up on top of Lysander; hellish because she had to go to classes. As soon as she had seen the position she had woken up in, Lily had jumped up.

That was a bad idea, she found out nearly three seconds later as her stomach tried desperately to climb up her throat.

"Ohhh, fuuuck..." she groaned and slid down to the floor. Lysander, still passed out on the couch behind her, didn't stir. Lily grasped her head in both hands and rested her elbows on her knees.

Several minutes later, Lily finally raised her head up and brought her elbow back to dig into Lysanders leg.

"Lys...Lysander! Wake up..." she croaked, elbowing her friend as hard as possible.

Lysander snorted and grunted before raising his head up off the couch.

"Waz gone on...what happened?" he mumbled, eyes squinted against the firelight.

Lily turned to look over her shoulder and blurted out, "Why was I on top of you?"

Lysander at first didn't react, his head having returned to it's previous position.

"Oh Merlin," he ground out, grimacing.

"I'm never touching Firewhiskey again," he muttered, slowly bringing himself into a sitting position.

"Why was I on top of you?" Lily repeated, this time with much more urgency. The thought that she could have done something, anything, with a man who wasn't Severus...well. It scared her more than she cared to admit.

Lysander, whose eyes were closed, shook his head. His brow was creased in confusion.

"That's a pretty good question there, Lils," he finally responded, running a hand through his hair.

"Last thing I remember was trying to get you to your room...maybe we passed out before that happened. You hungry at all?"

Lily grimaced but stood up slowly with Lysander steadying himself with a hand on her shoulder.

They staggered to the exit, and both had to take a breather before exiting.

It felt like it had been decades since they left the common room, but they finally made it to the Great Hall. There were a fair amount of fourth years and below, but Lily noted that most of the older students had yet to make it down yet.

"Seems we're not the only ones who had a good time last night," Lysander muttered, making for the Slytherin table. He sat down slowly, resting his elbows upon the table and head in his hands.

Lily basically mimicked Lysander, with the exception of covering her whole face.

"Fuck," she groaned out, grabbing her head.

"That's what I'm screamin'," Lysander replied bringing one hand down heavily upon the table in front of them. Lily took a deep breath and reached for a plate half-heartedly, putting some toast and jam on her plate.

A pumpkin juice appeared on the table in front of her and Lily eyed it distastefully, but picked it up and sipped it anyways.

She was pleasantly surprised to feel her mental fog clear up a bit, and her stomach start to feel less like a tornado. She instantly recognized the effects of a Pepper Up Potion.

"Drink the pumpkin juice, Lys, there's Pepper Up in it," she mumbled before taking a larger drink.

Lysander did as she said, but Lily paid him no mind as her Weasley genes kicked in. She suddenly found herself ravenous, and filled her plate up to the brim.

Lysander looked on in disgust as Lily scarfed the food on her plate down.

The day after Halloween happened to be a Saturday, and so Lily left Lysander after breakfast to visit the boathouse. Severus was not there when she entered, but appeared several minutes after she had slipped her shoes and socks off, dipping her feet into the water.

"Potter," he said in acknowledgement, and Lily gave him a small smile. His throat looked exceedingly bloody today.

"Hey," she replied, watching as he sat down against the wall. The position he took up reminded her so much of the way he looked that day at the Shrieking Shack, when she stumbled upon his form.

"You look...tired," Severus stated as he eyed Lily, who yawned as if proving his point. Lily nodded and brought her feet up out of the water, crawling over to where Severus was lying.

"Halloween party last night...I had a little to much fun..." And woke up with Lysander, she thought. Her heart jumped in her chest at the memory of waking up on top of her long time friend.

Severus only nodded, saying nothing. Lily talked of the party, her classes and how much she missed him. She talked enough for the both of them.

Sometime around midday, Lily had stopped talking. Her and Severus had been exchanging ghostly kisses. They weren't true kisses, but Lily didn't care. The icy cold feeling on her mouth left her lips tingling.

It was on this day, a bright Saturday on November 1st, that Lily and Severus were finally discovered.

* * *

Lysander had borrowed the Marauders Map from Lily a week earlier. Once he had recovered from his hangover, he opened that map and instantly spotted Lily on the grounds outside, by herself.

Lysander Scamander had always been raised to treat women right and be there for his friends. And so, thinking Lily was lonely, he traveled outside and to the boathouses, where Lily's dot was wavering on the page.

He was surprised though, when he heard Lily's voice. Even more surprised when he heard the voice of another male.

Concerned and a bit confused, Lysander walked into the boathouse-and saw Lily sitting next to a man. Not only sitting, but leaning in as if she was about to kiss him. He tried to say something, but the breath seemed to have been sucked out of his lungs.

He watched as their lips met, and the man raised his hand to cup her face-but his hand went _through her_.

Lysander pushed his back up against the outer wall of the boathouse, his mind reeling.

So this is where Lily had been all through school. Why Albus had gotten so mad at her all those years ago.

Down here, with this ghost. They were obviously involved...but for how long had they been doing this? And furthermore, how was something like this even possible?

Lysander heard muffled voices and peeked back into the room. Lily was now standing. The ghost was also standing, and Lily was looking up into his face with a smile. She was positively glowing.

Lysander felt something tear at his chest and he took off for the castle. She would never look at him like that. He would never make her look that happy. He had loved Lily since nearly 5th year.

He decided to wait for her to come back from the boathouse. He needed to know what was going on. And maybe, he thought, he would tell her how he felt.

* * *

Lily did eventually come back, just before dinner. Lysander had mumbled a hello, and handed her back the Marauders Map. Lily thanked him and started off for the Great Hall.

All through dinner, Lysander tried to ask what she had been doing, trying to kiss a dead man. But he never got a chance.

Finally, when they were walking back to the common room, Lysander couldn't hold back anymore. He stopped walking, and grabbed Lily's hand.

"What's up?" she asked, looking over her shoulder back at him. Lysander's eyes darted between his hand holding hers and her green eyes.

Finally he said, "I saw you at the boathouse today."

Lily opened her mouth as if to say something, seemed to think better of it and closed her mouth again.

She turned full to face Lysander and stepped closer to him. He didn't let go of her hand.

"I...saw you on the map. And decided to go down and keep you company. And I...I saw. I saw him and you. Together."

Lily's face paled before violently turning red.

"H-how much did you see?" she asked, her voice wavering. Lysander stared into her eyes, his heart aching.

"I saw enough," he responded simply, squeezing her hand tightly. Lily worried her bottom lip with her teeth, her hand clenching and unclenching into a fist at her side.

"So then, you know he's not...not alive, right? He's a ghost." Her voice was sad.

Lysander nodded,

"Lily, whats going on with you? Why couldn't you have told me about this...this mystery guy? I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends, Lys! I just...do you have any idea how hard and ridiculous I would've sounded if I told anyone, let alone you? I love him, Lysander! And I don't care that he's a ghost!"

Lysander was string at her hand, still resting in his.

"Lily...I-I love you. I have for a long time, now. It would've been much better if you had told me from the beginning. Here I was, thinking there might be a chance between us! I waited all these years, and for what? For you to fall in love with a fucking ghost? A dead man?"

Lysander now found himself angry and let go of Lily's hand. She herself was staring at Lysander with wide eyes

"Y-you love me?" she squeeked out, before clearing her throat.

"Who is he? Rather, who was he?"

Lily bit her lip again, this time lowering her gaze to the floor.

"He's...Severus Snape," she muttered.

If Lysander had been at all confused beforehand, he was now flabbergasted. Of course Lysander knew about Severus Snape; his father talked very highly of the man. Albus was named after the guy, too.

"The Severus Snape?" Lysander asked, trying to confirm whether or not he had heard correctly.

Lily nodded.

"He thought I was my grandmother the first time we met. I always meant to tell you guys! But there was never a chance! I had just met him, I didn't want to bring so many new people around him. I didn't want to scare him off...he acted like he didn't like me when we first met..."

Lily trailed off, her eyes seeming to plead with Lysander.

"I want to meet him," Lysander said quietly. He wasn't sure why he wanted to meet him, but he was tired of Lily sneaking around.

Lily nodded, before grabbing Lysander into gruff hug.

Lysander did not return the hug.

* * *

November rolled around, in all it's wet and cold glory. Lily had made excuse after excuse as to why Lysander wasn't allowed to meet Severus, until finally Lysander gave her an ultimatum.

"We can either be continue being friends and I get to meet him, or we can stop being friends and I owl Albus and your parents about this...relationship." It seemed almost like he was in pain when he said the word 'relationship'.

Lily had finally relented and had taken him with her one night to the Shrieking Shack, which Lysander was confused about initially.

When they finally made it to the house, Lysander found himself nervous.

"Okay," Lily said, letting out a huge sigh.

"We are here, because this is where Severus is in physical form. I don't know why this spot makes him coalesce physically; he doesn't know either. We just know that this is where we can actually touch eachother-"

"Okay!" Lysander said loudly, grimacing.

"For the love of Merlin, do not continue that sentence. Just lead the damn way, please," he mumbled, cheeks turning red. He wondered what she meant by 'physical form'. Lily didn't notice his reaction, instead turning to lead the way like he had asked.

When they came upon the room, Lily stopped him and told him to wait outside. Lysander agreed to it, wondering what the hell he had been thinking when he had told Lily that he wanted to meet this ghost.

After a couple of minutes, Lily peeked her head out the door and nodded at him to come in.

Lysander did so, bracing himself.

The first thing he saw was...nothing. Blackness enveloped most of the room, which had an old beaten up couch in the middle of the dusty and old wooden floorboards. Far across the way from the couch was a wall with large bay styled windows. He caught just the barest glimpse out the windows of the grounds that the house sat on.

"Well?" he asked, staring around the room.

"Where is this guy?"

Lily turned towards the darkest part of the room, and Lysander almost shit himself when the ghost stepped out of the shadows. He did not go any further than the edge of the shadows, however.

He did indeed look less grayed and more solid, Lysander thought to himself as he eyed the man before him. Now that he was more solid and more in his line of sight, Lysander could see that Severus was bleeding heavily from his neck.

"What happened here?" he asked brazenly, gesturing to his neck. Severus narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring.

"Lysander!" Lily chided, nervously glancing at Severus.

"I'm sure you've heard of the Dark Lord," Severus drawled. Lysander nodded slowly, watching as the man before him took several steps forward.

"His...familiar, Nagini. A giant snake, the length of this room and nearly the size of that couch there. She delivered the killing blow. The Dark Lord always was one for theatrics."

Lysander studied the wound carefully, before looking back into the tall mans eyes.

"I'm sorry," Lysander said, meaning it. "I'm sure it was very painful to endure."

They stood there in silence for several seconds, Lily bouncing from foot to foot, biting at her nails. A habit Lysander hadn't seen her participate in since she was a first year.

"My...my father, s-sir. He speaks very highly of you," Lysander admitted. Anything to break the awkward tension that was mounting.

"Your father," Severus repeated, turning his gaze to Lily.

"Please tell me he's not another bloody Malfoy."

Lysander grinned at the ghost and shook his head frantically.

"No, sir! No, no. My mother is Luna Lovegood-Scamander. My father says you were one of the best heads of house Slytherin had!"

Severus seemed surprised at this and lifted an eyebrow.

"Scamander...married a Lovegood? Thank Merlin I'm dead." His voice was dry, and the humor almost undetectable.

Lysander outright laughed at that one, and Lily felt her thudding heart slow down. She had been so nervous about this meeting that she had arranged. As if Lysander had been her father and she was finally introducing her boyfriend to him.

They all three chatted (Severus deigned to stay out of most of it, listening instead and offering up his opinion once in a while) for some time in that room, before Lysander decided he was going to go.

"I'll be right back," he heard Lily say as he left the room.

Lily came out the room after him, giving him a huge smile.

"He's not so bad?" she asked, and Lysander begrudgingly shook his head.

"He's not so bad," he replied, parroting her.

"I just...Merlin, Lily. I really really wish you had told me about this guy before I fell for you. What are you going to do when we graduate?"

Lily smiled coyly, before asking him why he thought she decided to major in Potions. It all made sense then, and Lysander sadly shook his head.

"Lily," he murmured, placing his hands gently upon her shoulders.

"You can't be with him forever. It's not possible. Eventually he's going to move on to the next life. You're going to have move on with the rest of your life. You can't-you can't do this. But," he added before she had a chance to say anything.

"But, I support...whatever this is. I've never seen anyone make you smile the way he does. I've never seen you glow. I'll never be able to make you feel the way he does. It hurts, but I'm more happy that you're happy."

He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and Lily took in a sharp breath involuntarily.

"I'll see you tonight...or tomorrow. Whichever. Goodnight Lils. And thanks. For letting me in, that is."

* * *

December came, and Lily realized how close both her and Severus were to their relationship ending. Lysander continued to act as one of her closest and really only friend. They spoke of Christmas and classes, gifts and money. What they each wanted; what they were going to get their other friends and family.

They said nothing of Lysanders confession, nor of the coming graduation. Not of Lily's fear of losing the only person she had truly ever fallen for; not of Lysanders hope that one day Lily may be his.

They spoke of ordinary things, and the month progressed on.

Christmas hols were spent with her family. She received a new cauldron, one of the highest quality available.

Scorpius and Rose also announced that they were engaged, causing Lily's uncle Ron to go beet colored. Harry rushed him out of the room at the earliest opportunity.

The rest of the family was equally excited and concerned. Had she met Scorpius' parents yet? ("Yes, mum,") Did they like her? ("Yes, mum.") Did she like his parents? ("YES, mum,") Was she prepared to get married? She wasn't pregnant was she? ("YES, MUM, I'm prepared to get married!" and "Why would you ask that?! I thought you'd be happy!")

Lily had to seperate herself away from the main group for a while. She went up to James' old room and climbed out onto the roof, staring at the stars.

She wondered if he was sitting in the Shack, looking at the stars as well.

James showed up a day after Christmas Eve, Reggie in tow. Reggie came bearing gifts for everyone. No one was more excited than Lily's grandpa Arthur, whom Reggie had bought several American muggle gifts-one such gift being a disassembled muggle clock. It even came with instructions on how to assemble it.

Arthur declared to the whole room that James had his approval to marry this woman. Reggie blushed profusely.

Lily also received some money from James and Reggie. He then winked and said in a whisper, "Don't worry, sis, we have more presents for you. Ones that you shouldn't open here!"

Lily had nodded, and nearly four hours later received the most beautifully blown glass pipe along with a new bag of marijuana. They were in James room once again, and Lily felt a wave of deja vu hit her.

"That bowl has an unbreakable charm on it," James bragged excitedly, and then dropped it on the hardwood to make a point. Lily grinned widely and picked it back up. Not a scratch was on it.

"It's also been charmed to be smokeless and odorless-no more worry about being caught!" He then grabbed the bag of weed he had given his sister and opened it, inhaling the smell that came from the bag.

"Ahh! Nothin' like fresh green!" he said, breaking some up into the bowl. Lily's mouth watered in anticipation.

"They call this stuff A New Beginning. Pretty strong shit," he added, passing the packed bowl to Lily.

"It's your present. You spark it," James murmured, before putting his arm around his little sister and squeezing her tight against his side.

"I miss you, sis," he muttered, cheeks pink. Lily smiled up at her big brother and lit the bowl with her wand.

James and Reggie stayed all Christmas and even into New Years. Albus came home from his school a couple days after James had and all three siblings, along with Reggie, Scorpius and Rose, all got wasted off a bottle of Firewhiskey that Albus had brought.

Lily drunkenly declared this year to be a success, right before expelling the contents of her stomach off the edge of James roof.

She wasn't sure how she got to bed that night.

* * *

The happiest holiday yet ended all to quickly for her. She almost cried as James left for a new semester of college. Reggie and James both told her to write if she needed more of A New Beginning. Albus left the same day James and Reggie had, along with Scorpius and Rose leaving later that evening.

Lily was left with just two days to do some schoolwork.

The year was going by much faster than Lily would have liked.

She received an owl the day before school started up again. It was from Lysander, and the owl came bearing to gifts. One small, and a much larger one.

She opened the largest one first, and felt very touched when she saw it was a new edition of Experimental Potions and How To Brew Them (A Guide For Not Getting Your Face Melted Off), by Jeremiah Wickers.

The second, much smaller present held a necklace. The chain was thin and silver, with a small snake dangling from the end.

Again, Lily felt touched and smiled as she gently caressed the small snake pendant. It's eyes held dark red, almost black, rubies.

She sent her gift for Lysander back with the owl. She also scribbled out a note, thanking him for the gifts and apologizing for hers not being as grand as his to her had been.

Lily had then put the necklace on, and gone to bed.

She returned to the school the next evening. Lysander saw the necklace about her neck and had smiled.

* * *

January. Cold, cold January. Lily did not see Severus all of January, due to the snow. It only meant more schoolwork for the students.

Lily and Lysander took this time to get as much as they could done for their end of the year Charms project.

"I know that right now this is very annoying and frustrating to deal with," Lily grunted, dropping a large stack of books onto the table her group was seated at.

"But if we get most of this crap out of the way now, then we won't have to deal with scrambling for minute details later! You guys will thank me at the end of the year," she added before plopping down next to Lysander.

They set to work and almost finished their project before the end of the night.

* * *

February came and with it, Valentines Day. Both Lily and Lysander avoided the Great Hall that morning, missing breakfast. Neither wanted much to deal with silly cupids and the chance that one of them would be slipped a love potion. So they skived off, and visited Severus at the boathouse.

Lysander, although he was now much more accepting of the Lily and Severus duo, still felt apprehensive about going down to visit the ghost. He felt like a third wheel most of the time.

He never stayed more than a couple hours, knowing in his heart that Lily wanted to be alone with her...lover. Whatever he was.

Lysander tried not to dwell on it to much.

The rest of the year seemed to fly by. It was May, all of a sudden. Lily felt the trepidation in her chest, anticipating the day that she would have to leave Severus. She was excited about going to study for her Potions Master degree.

But she was equally just as saddened about having to leave the man she loved.

Lysander knew she was excited, upset, happy and sad all at once. He didn't know how to comfort her, and instead of trying to do what he wanted most, he left her alone.

Alone with Severus.

It was the most he could do.

* * *

The end of the year Charms project was a success, and each member of the group received an Outstanding. Lily was ecstatic, but disappeared soon after class ended. Lysander knew where she had gone.

The closer the end of the year approached, the less Lysander saw of his friend. It seemed like the only times he ever saw Lily was during breakfast, classes and (occaisonally) dinner. She no longer seemed to care about food, which struck Lysander as odd.

She was a Weasley, after all. Even if her last name ended with Potter.

They graduated and Lysander watched as Lily put on a brave face at the ceremony. She received her certificate of graduation with smiles and waves to her family. She took being hugged and congratulated with smile and nods, with laughter and kisses on the cheek.

But when she looked at Lysander, he saw nothing but fear. Fear, regret. Maybe a bit of anger.

While the graduation took place two days before school officially ended, students who graduated were still required to spend the last two days at school. They had no classes, no supervision. They were free adults and the professors treated them as such.

Lily was no where to be seen that night, nor the next.

When she finally appeared, ashen faced and ready to leave school, essentially forever, Lysander felt his heart break in sympathy for his best friend.

* * *

It turned out that both Lily and Lysander were accepted to the same training for potions and herbology. The place they were to go to was unknown. All they knew was that they had to make the journey by broom halfway there and walk the rest on foot. The place they were supposed to go was a village and had long been kept secret by a series of Secret Keepers.

Lily packed her belongings in a giant trunk-enough clothing and books and knicknacks to last her the trip. No one was sure how long the journey would take. She owled James before her trip was to take place and received an owl back from him in the early hours of the morning the next day.

He had sent her her largest bag of cannabis yet, and Lily had smiled before placing it in her trunk.

She sighed as she sat down on her bed in her old room. She already missed Severus. She knew she would be missing him for a long time, too.

She pushed the thought of him out of her mind, reminding herself that she was going away so she could come back to Severus at some point.

She just didn't know when that point was.

* * *

Lily and Lysander met up at her house the next evening. Lily said goodbye to her family members, who gave her many provisions-food cooked by her mother and aunts, and one of her favorite dishes that had been tripled so as to last for several months, perhaps even a year.

"Owl me when you get a chance?" her mother sniffed before kissing her daughter on the forehead.

Lily nodded and hugged her mother before walking back over to where Lysander was. He placed the food gently into his trunk and shrunk it down. Then he threw one of his legs over his broom, and Lily did the same.

"I love you guys," Lily said, smiling at her family members. They said goodbye once more.

With a nod at her long time friend, both Lily and Lysander soared up into the cold early morning sky.

Lily did not look back.

* * *

There WILL be a sequel!


End file.
